In the Path of Keepers
by AncientDoom
Summary: With the collapse of their Force Bond Network the Miraluka have lost themselves, and Varus has to choose between his people, his love, and his family. Season -2.5- of 'In the Path of'. Rated -T- for -cursing- and -very morbid, dark, bloody imagery-. Galen/Ashoka and OC's galore.
1. Summary

**DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE PREVIOUS ONES!** This is part of a series:

Part 1: In the Path of Revan

Part 2: In the Path of the Ravager

This story takes place a few weeks after the events of In the Path of the Ravager and while it includes many characters, this will be a shorter part than the others as it focuses 100% on the Miraluka for a while. I estimate this will take 10-20 chapters.


	2. Ep01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 1

**Note: Originally I was not going to return to "In the Path of" for a while longer. I wanted to get through some more chapters of Marek of the Rebellion and To the Top. I find myself not enjoying Rebellion too much, as it lacks the overall insanity and looseness I prefer, while I am having an absolute BLAST with To the Top. You think 'In the Path of' is crazy? To the Top is based on Borderlands WHICH IS DESIGNED to be crazy! :D**

 **As you can see, I love crazy.**

 **Rebellion lacks that crazy and is 99% serious and requires infinite levels of planning and intelligence and luck that I can make stuff up without sounding utterly ignorant of politics or war. To the Top is the opposite. Screw planning. I have a basic idea of what I want AND I CAN DO WHATEVER THE HECK I WANT TO REACH THAT GOAL! Make Rhys a god? Done. Have a psycho that is comparable to a dog and has the same vocabulary as Ed from Ed, Edd, and Eddy? Done. Torture Vaughn? Have Rhys and Vasquez in a slapping contest? Blow some stuff up? To be done. :)**

 **I find 'In the Path of' to be a nice balance between those two mindsets. I can be crazy while realizing there is an actual universe to follow with its complexity of politics and war and relationships. Half the time I have Varus doing stupid things just so I don't have to deal with seriousness all the time. And as a character he is crazy enough that I can do that without breaking his persona.**

 **I swear, if I took Marek from Rebellion and Varus and put them in the same room…**

 **Varus: OH Force! ANOTHER CLONE! HK! Do the thing!**

 **HK: OKAY! *shoots bird out of the sky.***

 **Varus: NOT THAT! The thing!**

 **HK: OKAY! *Shoots another bird.***

 **Varus: NO NO NO! YOU'RE DOING IT ALL WRONG!**

 **Koj: You will find that in order for the droid to understand you, you must be more specific.**

 **Varus: I can't even PRONOUNCE what Revan ordered him to do! It's just called 'thing'!**

 **HK: Master, if you are referring to (gibberish), you need only command it.**

 **Varus: See? You try saying that.**

 **Koj: You do appear to have a problem on your hands.**

 **Ahsoka: Why don't you first see if the clone is an ally before you sick HK on him?**

 **Varus: …**

 **Koj: …**

 **HK: I protest.**

 **Ahsoka: You seriously didn't even consider that possibility did you?**

 **Varus: I blame him. *points at HK***

 **Ahsoka: *groans* MEN!**

 **Marek: *stares* You are all absolutely insane…**

 **And yes I did just make all that up on the spot.**

 **But that is all beside the point. I wasn't going to return to doing this for a while, but recently a guy showed me he had been drawing scenes inspired from my series. I. Inspired. A. Guy. I still am trying to wrap my head around that. I saw the stuff and while it won't compare to the mona-lisa, I still had to walk away to keep from crying. There are just some moments when I realize how big this series has become, not only for myself, but for others, in that I somehow touch them. I saved one guy from suicide (no idea how…), another is inspired to writing stories of his own, and now a guy is inspired towards art. He already drew, but still. It hit me pretty deep, and I felt the fires ignited a bit again to do this. I've tried sitting down a few times to write, but inspiration or desire has illuded me. I've been emotionally drained by RL.**

 **I cannot promise I will be motivated too long to do this without wanting to return to my break, but for now I feel the need to write. :)**

* * *

 **Episode 1 - In the Path of Keepers Part 1**

* * *

My name… It depends on who you ask. You will be given a dozen answers from a dozen timeframes. But if you were to ask me, my name would be Varus Wynn, Starkiller, head of the Marek family and Keeper of the Miraluka. I've been Jedi and Sith, and neither is one I can accept.

I was born as the heir to the Miraluka Keeper line. The Keepers are similar to a king, but not. You have to see it from the Miraluka perspective. We don't have laws in the same sense others do. We actually have very few laws, instead, the Keeper guides the hearts of the people because at the very core of our identity is a Force network of bonds that unite us in thought and emotion. Almost… like a hive mind, but one of the heart rather than our ability to think. So more like a hive empathy? Not sure entirely what its like. I was one of the few Miraluka to have never been granted the blessing due to being captured by a Sith Lord, Nihilus, and I came out reasonably okay.

If you can call having multiple personalities, being a mass murderer, and then generally being nutso and sarcastic as hell to be okay.

But my people… They have lived for generations with this 'hive empathy', and now for the first time it is gone.

My people have lost their minds. My people have lost their hearts, their ability to care, and they feel for the first time in their lives that they are truly alone. We are facing civil war.

Three weeks ago, my mother, Victoria Marek, died. We haven't even been able to do a proper burial with as much blood has been spilled in the first few days alone. In the first week it was mass riots. The people were upset with what had happened to them. They were angry. They didn't know how to fix it. It was like drug addicts being taken off suddenly.

In the second week the people developed into thousands of gangs to try and substitute for the feeling of loneliness they have developed.

In the third week it became open war and rebellion amongst thousands of factions. Fire is everywhere and you can't go a single day without seeing someone dead.

And it's only been getting worse.

I sigh. "I wish Tree-Hugger was here. He'd know what to do."

We're flying to an outlying village where reports of an attack was going down. I don't know what side attacked it, or what side defended. It's my people. Koj and Squirt are here, largely for her own protection, and Visas.

Ashley Marr was one of the casualties... She's not dead. She's something worse now... Depending who you ask. Visas managed to escape the insanity shared by the rest of our people because she, like me, have endured the worst of Nihilus. We are unaffected. Ashley, not so much.

She tried to kill Squirt. Something I know she would never do in her right mind. Koj and Visas agreed. Visas had to hunt down her own sister and capture her. Judging from the ragged clothes, claw and bite marks, and wild hair Visas returned with: Ash had put up a fight. But more than that, Visas was as disheveled as I had ever seen her. Fighting her little sister and seeing her in this condition had taken a toll on her.

Should I be worried that I have Ash in my basement chained up?

"This isn't his problem." Visas replies cooley. "This is an internal affair."

"It's going to become an external one if these gangs take control of the Star Forge."

"Point made." She nods. "Still, your Jedi friends are out of contact."

Ah, yes. Luke is traumatized from being a temporary host to Nihilus. I sympathize deeply. He hasn't said a word since, no matter what the Huggers do. He just has this haunted look in his eyes and stares at everything. So they're off having a vacation to try and bring Luke back and get to know Anakin's family he-never-knew-he-had.

I wish I was there. The awkwardness would be hilarious.

The silent gasp of Koj brings me out of my musing and I look out the window.

"Aww, I missed out on the fun..." HK grumbles.

The village is up in smoke. Its in ruins. Even from here I can see bodies scattered around.

"Squirt, don't look." I stop. She is already looking out the window.

"What?" She asks. "It's just bodies." A shiver goes down my spine. Out of the corner of my eye I see Koj tense up as well. That is not something a young girl should ever have to say... especially said with that much casualness. We hover above the village for a time and I look around for anyone moving. After several minutes... nothing.

"Some might still be alive, or we might find clues on who attacked if we land." Koj offers.

"Or we might be the next victim." Visas counters.

"We'll be fine. I'm literally the strongest thing on this planet." I say flatly. I wish I had the stomach to be sarcastic or gloat, but I can't. I'm speaking literally right now. The atmosphere is too dim to joke or smile in.

"So?" Koj asks.

"I say land."

"No." Visas replies.

"I am in agreement with master."

"Three to one then." Koj nods.

"The droid doesn't count!" Visas barks.

"Land us HK." I order. "You and I will go out first to scout the area. Koj, Visas, Squirt. Stay with the ship until we give an all-clear."

HK complies and lowers the ship to the ground. Once we land, the back ramp lowers. HK grabs its gun and runs out. "Don't kill anyone until we identify friend from foe!" I yell at it.

HK turns invisible and there it goes. Okay... let's do this. I ignite lightning blades from my fists and walk out. The smell of smoke, plasma fumes, and death surrounds me. However, the smell also gives me hope. First, where there is smoke this thick, there is fire. Second, plasma fumes go away rather quickly. Third, there is a different smell for fresh death and decaying death.

It's kinda bad that I know the difference isn't it?

I tap my ear-mic. "Okay guys, the battle was recent. Stay on your guard."

"Understood." Koj replies.

I walk through the village slowly. My eyes scan for any movement and my instincts are coiled like a snake. I stoop down over various bodies and check their neck. No pulse. One after another I find them dead. All of them have the same common clothes expected of an outlying village toiling in dirt, grass, and trees to make a living.

Before long, I begin to notice a pattern amongst the corpses. At first I thought they were simply old people. But everyone? Even the short ones? No. They look like Nihilus touched them. Nihilus rampaged through the village and killed everyone, woman, children, men, elders, doesn't matter, and they fought back. Several of them have blasters and lightsabers that look freshly used.

A cold chill goes down my spine. Is Nihilus loose?

After several minutes, there is nothing. I blow away the fires with a gust of the Force. "HK, anything? I've looked over the whole village. Nothing. It's odd, there are no bodies or evidence left by the attackers, but everyone looks void-touched."

"What do you mean void-touched?" Visas asks.

I look down at one of the corpses and describe it. Visas says, "But, Nihilus is being held on Mandalore. How could he be here?... Oh no. You don't think he still has Luke do you?"

Oh, hell no. I hope not. That would break Tree-Hugger's heart and would be very very bad for my people. But whoever it is that killed these people did it with the same lack of compassion I associate with Nihilus. They even killed the women and children. I don't sense anybody, even if there were survivors, it seems they've long since fled.

HK says, "Master, I am detecting a faint sound. Comes to my present location."

"On my way. Everyone, stay on your guard. If you see anything suspicious, go into the air."

I run to where HK is and he is inside a one of the buildings. The house is in ruins. Furniture is broken and scattered everywhere. There is a pile of rubble where the roof fell to one side of the building. HK is facing it. "I don't hear anything."

"There is breathing in there. I cannot identify faction nor intent." It explains.

Someone is alive.

I Force-lift everything out of the way. There is a small basement leading down into darkness. HK goes in first and I follow. It's headlights lead us in. The basement is filled with barrels of something. Most likely fruit, judging from the food scattered around. HK has all the focus of a hunting bulldog with a gun and goes right after its target. Against a far corner, nestled in between a bunch of barrels is a sight I would not have expected. There's a young woman (or at least was) with a baby to her breast. Thankfully she's covered.

HK, to my surprise, lower's its gun. If it was anyone or anything but HK, one could see it as compassion. "The target is already dying."

I stoop over her to look her over. She is breathing heavily with cold sweat. Beyond the fact she's been aged forward by fifty years, I don't see a wound on her.

My presence startles her awake, and she thrusts a pistol up at me. I don't move. She's scared out of her mind but resolutely keeps the pistol aimed at me and HK. Woman's got guts. Not just anyone can look at me when I have lightning rolling across my shoulders and HK has a gun pointed at them, and be ready. If anythig she hugs the newborn tighter.

What would Ahsoka do...

I put my hands up. "HK, lower the gun."

"But-"

"Do it."

HK grumbles, but complies. I keep my hands up. "Everything's all fine now. We're here to rescue you. The people who attacked have left, so you can calm down now. But first, let's leave this place. Can you stand?"

The woman is shaking and even though she tries to keep the pistol up, it lowers. Whether its because of a lack of strength or crumbling resolve to kill me, I can't say.

"You went through hell, didn't you?" I whisper as I approach her again. I wrap my arms around her to help her stand. "Here, give me your shoulder. Hang in the-" My hands brush a blood covered piece of wood protruding from her back. Judging from her pain filled breathing, it punctured a lung. So this is what HK meant...

The rubble. Part of it pierced her.

Our eyes meet and we both know what's going on here. She won't make it out of this basement. She will die here. Already her eyes are dim and her Force presence is all but gone.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Woma-... to-… touch... us."

"A woman did this to you by touching?" I ask.

She nods. I ask, "How did you escape?"

She smiles and blood flows out of her lips. "Not... gifted." So, she is a Miraluka with sight and no Force gifts. Truly a rarity among rarities for a Miraluka.

Sounds like whoever is doing this hunts people with Force gifts. That is a lot like Nihilus, but Nihilus in a woman? Nihilus doesn't much like being in women. He considers the breasts to be a hindrance and it is very conspicuous when you have plasma smoke and blood coming out of his shirt after he cuts them off.

Without a word, she pushes the infant into my chest. Inside, I panic. I know nothing about babies. They smell. They're ugly. They scream a lot. But the atmosphere is too dark for me to do anything but comply. I take the baby from her in grim acceptance.

"She... kar-" The woman coughs and throws herself on the floor. A whole cup of blood pours from her mouth.

I put a hand on her back and let it pass. After a moment she stops coughing, and is still barely holding on. "Don't worry." I whisper. "You did well. You saved the kid. You don't have anything to worry about anymore."

The woman surprises me with the strength in which she raises herself up with. She stops shaking. Instead, she just smiles and gazes at her child as I hold her. The woman's arms dangle almost uselessly by her side.

A long moment passes. Her look doesn't change even the slightest, nor does she blink.

"Varus!" Koj yells into the basement. "You there?"

"Yeah. I'm here."

He stomps his way down. "Damnit, brother! You freaked everyone out. We been yelling for you to answer this whole time, thinking you went off and died, only it turns out-"

He stops at the sight of us. Whatever he had to say is instantly forgotten.

"She's dead." I answer the question he doesn't ask. The woman looks like she has been dead for hours, holding on by a thread just for one child. I know I should feel something, but all I can feel is amazement and curiosity. I have never seen how far a woman will go for a child. Is this a mother's love? A mother's endurance? What I have seen is completely foreign to me.

"Incredible..." I whisper in pained awe.

"She earned a warrior's death." Koj says.

I look to Koj, and I see recognition in his eyes. He figured out everything from a glance. I nod. Silently, he lifts her up and carries her out with us. HK follows along. Visas and Squirt meet us outside. At first they are panicking, but the sight of us has the same effect on them as it did on Koj. I head straight for the shuttle and pass by everything. I leave the baby on a seat and go into another room.

It isn't long before I am punching the ground. My hands crack, the skin peels, blood starts appearing on the ground, but I continue punching the metal plating anyway while cursing. "DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT!"

"What are you doing?" Visas asks me from the door. I never heard her come in.

"I don't want to hear it!"

"You think breaking your hands will do any good?"

"Shut up! You don't get it!" I turn on her. "That woman is another one of my victims! Another death on my soul, a failure on a long list of failures!" The pain in my hands is nothing compared to the pain in my heart and in my mind.

"You did not do this."

I laugh madly. "Oh, don't lie! We both know that's not true. I saw it... I saw the fear in mother's eyes everytime Leland was near her. I felt his danger. I understood him to be a snake. I thought he might come after me one day, or was an allied snake. I was a fool. If I had just put thought into it, if I had just asked mother, I would have known what he was capable of or intended to do."

"You cannot blame him for this either."

"Bullshit!"

Visas smacks me, but it doesn't stop me from glaring at her. "Do not mock Victoria."

"What the hell!?"

"Leland didn't kill the Network, Victoria did. She shot herself to keep from having to shoot her son. Foolish as it may be, that takes a certain strength to sacrifice yourself in war. It's the same strength you just witnessed today in a different mother."

"These two are completely different scenarios!"

She is silent a moment. "Varus, your problem is not that you caused this. Your problem is that you cannot understand any other reason. Like Nihilus, you grew up not fully understanding how far a mother can go. So the idea that Victoria could have caused this is beyond you."

"Leland-"

"Leland pushed everyone into a position to die. I don't know what his ultimate plan would have been. To kill us, to remove the Network, to make us seem like the ones to kill the galactic leaders. But what he did was take control of the Ravager and attack. He did not kill Victoria. He did not kill the Network. And neither did you."

I growl and turn away. She continues. "You did not kill the Network specifically because you think to blame yourself for what Leland was capable of rather than your own mother. Yes, Victoria was scared of him. She saw him better than anyone. Yes, you saw the fear and did not recognize it. But the fact that you look to that fear, that Leland, that fault of yours and yet blame yourself for something else entirely proves you are completely ignorant. If you understood what Victoria was capable of, then you would be able to acknowledge her accomplishment."

"Even though it would mean thinking less of her?" I growl.

Visas is silent a long moment. Normally, even as unreadable as she is, I can get a bead on her. Right now, she is a solid rock. Her flat tone is particularly hollow. "Whether the end result is good or ill, love is a powerful thing. It is not a separate emotion in and of itself, but it magnifies all others. The slightest pain is agony, the simplest joy is glorious, and the simplest of resolves becomes a decision worth devoting your entire life towards. Love can produce life a thousand times over and it can produce death in fools a thousand times over."

Without another word, she leaves the room and leaves me with much to contemplate.

Within the hour Koj and everyone return, and we lift into the air. We fly back to the ShipMother. Along the way the view outside the window is a daunting one. The capital city, a city that was still in its birthstages as a functional town, was covered in smoke. Most of the ships were grounded, but the ShipMother managed to keep enough of a crew together to stay in the air. Rebhorn considered it the location of our headquarters and the temporary Miraluka government until the ground was settled.

We land in the hanger and a servant is already there to meet us, and bows at my approach, "The Admiral requests your presence, my Keeper."

Too much formality for my taste really… "Yeah, I was already on my way there."

We follow the servant to a room where Rebhorn was, and we entered in. Rebhorn, before these times, had always sat at his desk. Now, he has not. We found him leaning against the wall as if restless and wary. The loss of the Network has had an impact on even the most resilient of us.

Also, while he before would have pleasantry, he now forgoes it at every opportunity. "What did you find? Did you help them?"

"They were already wiped out." I report. "There was one survivor, who soon passed as I arrived." Koj glances at me, but keeps his words to himself. "Her last words was that a woman went around killing them with nothing more than a touch."

"Hmm…" He hums in thought. "Just a touch?"

"So far as she said, yeah."

He nods. "That is in line with the reports we have received." He sighs deeply and massages his temples. "We have been receiving reports… the situation has escalated further overnight. These 'cults' that have risen… they are being overtaken by a few in particular that supposedly have the gift of Nihilus and the Void. The ability to create lethal Force bonds with nothing more than a touch in order to stave off their pain."

A chill goes down my spine. "What?!"

If there are more appearing… with the same power as Nihilus… "Could we be looking at Nihilus of our own?"

"In a sense." Rebhorn says. "I very much doubt they are on the caliber as your former master. They are made of flesh and blood and so can be killed."

He pulls out a paper and hands it to me. I have trouble reading the language of blind people, but with some difficulty I make out the report. I slam it down in rage, "My brothers were attacked?!"

These very cults lead by mini-Nihilus attacked the safe house where my clone brothers were being kept safe!

"Continue reading." He says simply.

The cults managed to kidnap a few clones and trade them around like drug-money to each other before Rebhorn's forces rescued them. The kids are being kept secure on the FleetMother and efforts are being made to give them a normal life. They are receiving a few guardians over them all and will be enrolled in the school system soon. I collapse in the chair in front of his desk and put my head in my hands. I'm getting a migraine.

"Why would they be targeting your clones?" Koj asks me.

I shake my head. "I don't know…"

"It is our belief that, as a Keeper's heir, you represent a cure…" Rebhorn says. "So…"

The people, in their crazed minds, are going after my clones because they are miniature versions of me. I stare emptily into the palms of my hands.

Why?...

Why?...

Why must my existence be such a curse?...

Why must the Starkiller clone's inherit my hatred?…

Why must the Galen clone's inherit my curse?...

"Brother?" Koj whispers.

I start and force my rampaging doubts down inside. I look up to see Koj and Rebhorn looking at me in concern and mild aggravation, respectively. "You didn't hear a word I said did you?" Rebhorn asks.

I shake my head. He sighs. "I think it best if we retire for the evening… When was the last time you slept?"

I glance to Koj and shrug. I feel sluggish. The bags under my eyes are probably large enough to take to the grocery store. Honestly? I don't remember the last time I slept. It has been one long… long day to me trying to keep up with the chaos and damage being done.

Rebhorn turns his attention to Koj, "Make sure he gets a full night sleep. I will not have him going back out until he has at least ten hours of undisturbed rest."

I chuckle. "Undisturbed rest… Take a glance at my dreams and you see how undisturbed it is." I smile widely. "I'm disturbed enough as it is when I'm awake."

"With how you look right now, you are indeed… disturbing."

… Wait? Was that a joke? Rebhorn made a joke? Admiral Ribs tried to make a joke? I don't know which is worse… the joke or the fact that he is the one who made it. Or that some part that I am losing control over has the urge to actually laugh at it… I think that 'part' is my mind. I have a migraine…

Yeah… I could use some sleep.

Koj grabs my arm and I go without prompting. I retire to my room, which happens to be the same room as Koj and Squirt. Space is limited on the ship and we bunked together in our slavery years. Squirt is sending messages to the Skywalker kids on her little holo-pad, and I fall face first into my bunk, blood and boots and all. My head feels like its going to explode with the massive headache I have. I barely register Koj embracing his daughter before climbing onto the bunk right above me before darkness overtakes me.

Moments later I see myself in a room identical to the one I went to sleep in. I don't see Koj or Squirt, their bunks are empty. I hear whispers of Nihilus and a light comes from the bathroom. Curious, as is the way with dreams, I enter in. There is movement in the mirror and I look closer. What I see is my reflection with the dead behind me, now including Starkiller, mother, that woman from the village, Ash, and millions of my people along with the usual Maris Brood and Plo'Koon.

* * *

"Thank you for holding on to the child." Koj said.

Visas nodded from across the cafeteria table. "The child has nowhere to go, and you are busy. Although, it would be best if you took the child."

Koj looked up from his food and merely raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"Between you, me, and Varus, you are the only one qualified to be a parent."

A dark look flashed over Koj's face. Squirt was off getting seconds. She was a growing girl. "You will find I am barely qualified."

"Don't give me that shit. You screwed up, bad. But you have the capacity to recognize a mistake and learn from it."

"And you two don't?" He countered.

"Only to a small degree…" Visas muttered sadly. "Varus and I are messed up at such a foundational level… You had a solid foundation. Our ability to grow is limited. I'm sure you see it in him, how he tries so hard but doesn't know how to fix himself properly."

Koj looked down at his food. The atmosphere had been mutually content with them both naturally being silent and content with that, saying only what was necessary. But then, something like this is necessary to bring up as well. It was a bit much for just having a midnight snack, but the sudden appearance of the child prompts consideration on many as to who will take care of her. Squirt returned with a stack of food and happily dug in with all the innocence of a child.

"For him, it is like trying to seal concrete together with staples." Koj muted.

Visas nods. "I don't deny I am better in many ways that I was… since I was released from my burden and have found a lover, but with me the child will only grow screwed up. I can barely take care of myself. Varus can't even do that much right now… not since Ahsoka disappeared."

Koj nodded. It had hit him hard, even if he understood and said nothing. On the surface it was just a break away from him to clear her head. Varus's willingness to even conceive of a plan that used the pain of his loved ones to save their lives while sacrificing his own was… well, it's the kind of complex plan that is hard to wrap your head around to begin with, but the undeniable result is that it is a betrayel. The only reason Varus would be considered innocent in any way was the emotional state he was in when he made the plan. He was emotionally compromised.

Doesn't mean it didn't hurt and some space was needed.

Below the surface, it was simply bad timing on Ahsoka's part. Varus' people are falling all around him, and Koj considered her the kind of person who wouldn't have left him to deal with it alone if she knew no matter how hurt she was.

"I will… consider it." Koj could agree to that much.

The rest of the meal went quickly and in content silence. Visas left to check on her sister and be there for her. Koj had not eaten much the last few days, and being practically ordered to stop and do so was a great relief. He grabbed some for Varus as well. Varus would either wake up because of hunger, or just wake up hungry when he finally does return to the realm of the living… in about twenty hours. Koj had seen him beat up and standing on the border of life and death, but this was a level of loss he had never seen before.

Varus was physically exhausted, but okay. His problem was deeper. Varus was losing his mind and the lack of sleep was only compounding the stress his brother was under. Varus lacked a foundation in many ways, and he couldn't take the time he needed to figure things out in the mad rush to save his people. Koj would be there for him to keep him from losing himself. Koj already regreted not having forced the man to take proper care of himself the last couple weeks, but then Varus was hard to control. In some ways he was a willful man. In many others he was a child. He resisted all forms of control tooth and nail, a natural instinct from his rebelliousness with Nihilus.

Koj and Squirt returned to their cabin… or almost. There was a small crowd outside and he recognized security at the door with some paramedics.

"What happened?!" Koj demanded.

One of the guards noticed him and said, "Neighbors reported there was a blood-curling scream, and sounds of glass breaking. We rushed over, and the paramedics are seeing to him now."

"Robbery?" Koj asked. If an idiot broke in, Varus probably killed him.

The officer shook his head. "No. Not so far as we can tell at a glance. Varus screamed in horror and broke the mirror with his fist."

Koj didn't wait for another word before rushing in. Varus was sitting on his cot, leaning back against the wall. His eyes were closed and there was only one word to describe him. Exhausted. Every part of him exuded this idea, and yet it seemed sleep eluded him. He was being tortured by himself. Not that it was anything new, necessarily. Varus had gone through a suicidal phase once, and another phase where he was a monster. Compared to those phases, this phase was simple. He needed sleep. He needed a break from these 48-hour days that had gone on for an endless month. He wasn't getting either. It was simply beyond mortals to sustain stress like this for too long without breaks or sleep. They can even die from it. As if evidence to that fact, Varus had blood coming from his nostrils again.

Varus' eyes opened briefly on Koj's return and he muttered something that seemed along the lines of "Hello" before closing his eyes again.

Some paramedics were working on him. His hand was covered in glass shards sticking out of his knuckles. They removed a piece, and Koj flinched at the sheer size of it being pulled out of his knuckle. Yet Varus didn't react at all. He was beyond pain, it seemed. Or, at the very least, beyond reacting to it.

Koj looked into the bathroom and found bloody glass all over the floor. He would need to clean that up.

"Uncy Varus, we brought something for you to eat." Squirt said meekly. She climbed up beside him.

"Oh… thanks Squirt." Varus muttered quietly. He yawned deeply. "I'm just… not really hungry."

"You haven't eaten in days either." Koj said.

"Yeah, well. Eating is so inconsequential these days. Haven't been bothered to do it."

The paramedics finished removing the shards from his hand. They sprayed medifoam into his injury. The foam grew inside his wound to fill all the cuts. He hissed in pain this time. Koj would have been horrified if he hadn't. The medics continued and wrapped his hand in linen. "Don't use your hand for five days, and have it checked up with a doctor before using it again."

"Seriously?" Varus muttered sleepily.

"You should feel lucky you can still use it at all." They responded.

"Hmm… I'll attribute that to Force regeneration."

"Five. Days."

"Yeah, yeah." Varus waved them off with his other hand and used it to cover his mouth as he yawned again.

Koj glared down at him. "We gonna talk about this?"

"I'd rather not, actually." Varus responded easily. He layed down again, in his food and all.

Koj watched his brother try to get some sleep and considered what to do. He couldn't just ignore his mental state, but then what were his options? Sleep was the best cure at this moment, and any attempt at discussion Koj could make would only be ruined by the simple fact that Varus was going on days and days without sleep.

Best to make sure he slept for once. Then he could talk.

"Cahjinawl, why don't you help chase his demons away tonight?" Koj suggested to her.

She looked at him curiously. "But Ash said it's wrong. I'm too old."

"That is right, but right now it's rather serious. Those demons may very well be the death of him if they don't get chased off."

"Like they did with you?" She asked curiously.

Koj found himself unable to respond to that. He was speechless. It hit him where it hurt, and it was a valid question. It took him a long, long time before he could get a word out. "That is right."

Cahj didn't need any more prompting before climbing in with Varus with her teddy. Varus, unconscious, instinctively wrapped around her like used to. Koj just shook his head and snorted in amusement. Sometimes it was like he already had two children to take care of. He patted Varus on the head and entered the bathroom to clean up the mess.


	3. Ep01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 2

**Note: Aaaand here. Ungrateful louts! YOUR GOING TO HAVE THIS WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! (jk, i love ya. :P)**

* * *

 **Episode 1 -** **In the Path of Keepers Part 2**

* * *

The next morning, Koj rose to find Varus still sleeping. Cahjinawl was awake, and he couldn't help smirking. What made it amusing was how his brother had her in a tight grip, and she was pouting. She tried to get up but failed.

"Papa…" She pouted.

"It is well, stay. He needs this."

She growled, but complied. "But I'm booooored!"

Koj moved to her cot, grabbed her datapad, and handed it to her. "This should keep you busy. Just do not disturb his rest."

"But…"

"Has he stirred at all?"

"Nope! He's sooo annoying!" She continued to pout.

Koj smiled, "I'm sure he will continue to sleep for a good while then. The last few weeks have taken their toll on him."

"But I want to get up!"

Koj ignored her and left. "Papa! Noo!" She cried. "NOOOOOoooooo! Dangit…"

Koj just smiled and continued on. He had much to do, but for today… he would take it easy. He needed his break as much as Varus did. He found a lounge and sat on the floor to meditate. Being inside of the Star Forge kept him from being able to see the stars, and the view was in some ways depressing. With the 'planet' being hollow and the crust of it being on the inner side of the sphere, then he could see the miniature sun resting in the middle of the hollow space and the planet spinning around it. Unfortunately this caused him to see all the chaos, flames, and smoke that came with the civil war the Miraluka were facing.

To an extent it was no longer a civil war. A civil war implied there was two structures, of sorts, in conflict. This was sheer anarchy and the government was in and of itself very much intact. The Admiral had succeeded in securing a haven on the ship with the nobles and as many as he could save, and the population secured were those who were both loyal and sane. All that was left was… well… If Koj were to make a comparison it would be a zombie or rakghoul outbreak. With the former being purely fiction and the latter being real, but it was a valid description. All that was left to do was either find a cure, secure a home away from the lost and leave them to fend for themselves, or purge them.

There were still pockets of sane people that they needed to protect, but there was no more room on the ships. Just in the lounge itself, Koj found he wasn't alone. The room was actually crowded. There were over a hundred people huddled in this room alone.

There was a small commotion and Koj watched as a soldier moved his way through to crowd to Koj. "A report, sir." the Miraluka handed him a paper translated into Basic, and Koj nodded while taking it.

The report's contents detailed a reinforcement plan placed by Rebhorn. Previously there had been a limit on military manufacturing being done by the Forge's outer layer in order to keep it from going out of control, but with the war, Rebhorn has allowed for the military to be reconstructed from the ground up and for the Forge to begin manufactoring droids of various models at full capacity. (Seems the Stooges were in charge of the manufacturing, as they had a knack for understanding how the Forge worked, along with HK.)

The reconstructed Miraluka military would turn all non-specialist Miraluka soldiers would be turned from squad member to squad leaders, and be placed in charge of a squad of drones. The fighters would no longer be manned fighters, but be remote controlled drones from the mothership where the 'humans' would be in pods giving them the feeling they were actually in the fight. (Including the capability to talk through the drone fighter if need be, just as much as if they were actually inside.)

A practical plan, Koj considered, provided the plan was to combine quantity with enough tactical sense and adaptiveness to not be as stupid as a true droid army. In the Clone Wars that had been the Confederacies failing. Droids didn't adapt easily to entirely new things. They could adapt to situations seen by their brethren, but war was a constantly changing thing and droids could not keep up the same way a sentient mind could. With a Miraluka brain leading a squad of droids, then it was a strong combination of expendable quantity with tactical sense and quality. The only problem he figured was it also was the weakness. If the Miraluka squad leader died, then the droids would fail to adapt to anything.

It was a solid plan considering what they were facing. This enemy was too dumb to take advantage of such a weakness, and with proper training in the army it would be a weakness that wasn't easily taken advantage of. The Miraluka were natural Force users. Their power was higher than a Jedi, individually, and Koj found they were not above using both lightsaber and blasters simultaneously. They would be harder to kill or assassinate than just normal officers. It would take real effort to kill one.

Koj returned the report to the soldier and returned his salute. Koj returned to his meditation. He ate when he was hungry. He took a nap when he was tired. He did as he needed, but he kept his focus on meditating. Koj knew he had done the will of the Force when he had turned aside to the hatred that boiled with him. He was supposed to. It was part of the plan to reveal who the real enemy was, but that didn't mean it didn't have consequences. The Force was not happy with him, and nor was the Maker, so far as the Force told him. Koj considered himself a very religious person. He had always worshipped the Force, yet recently he found himself doubting. He owed the Force a great debt, but to know the universe itself had a master… a Maker… a God.

Koj considered looking more into that. Why worship the servant when he should be worshipping the master?

So Koj took some time to look up various religions and in his meditations he considered them. There were millions, but he found that they all were derived from a few roots where man chose along the way that the will of their god wasn't good enough, and chose to implement their own wishes instead. They would ask for donations constantly or incite lessons to hate… Some would implement parlor tricks as though Koj was stupid enough not to discern truth and fact, but had to rely on something as stupid as the heart.

Koj scoffed, "The mind is foolish, but the heart is stupid."

He decided that if the Maker had created the Force, the universe, hence the title 'Maker', then he would need to look towards ones that were old. Very old. It only made sense that a diety would have a religion as old as itself, or as old as its creation. (Hard to have a religion if there is nothing to be in it, yet.)

Koj allowed himself to consider these things over the course of the day. Not something most would find relaxing, but he found processing something so deep and meaningful would prove today to be a progressive one in his life in an area otherwise lacking these days. He had been so surrounded in the problems of mortals that he realized he had failed to contemplate higher things. He despised wasting time doing just nothing. There was, after all, a difference being doing nothing and not doing anything.

Koj returned to his cabin to find Varus still asleep and Cahjinawl VERY much annoyed now. It was in the afternoon. Koj briefly frowned. He had not considered Varus still sleeping. Varus must have taken these days harder than he thought. Koj placed some food on the intable. "You may rise." Cahj didn't hesitate for a MOMENT to jump out of bed. This made Varus stir briefly. "It is best that Varus get more sleep, but he also needs food and to use the restroom if needed."

"Does that mean I have to waste away more of the day in bed…" Cahj groaned. "What did I do to deserve this!?"

"I would think you would appreciate the time you spend with your uncle."

"I do… but being in bed for HOURS is not my idea of a good day. Classes are starting up again soon anyway."

Koj glanced to her briefly. Ah, yes. The school system had suffered in the chaos, but Rebhorn had been making sure it was returning. The man had much on his plate. "You are correct, it is best you enter. Do you have any friends to walk to your education with?"

"It's called school, Papa… and no. Why would I want to be friends with those people?... Ash always did…" Cahj said sadly. Ash losing her sanity had hurt a lot.

"I am sure once Ash is no longer sick in the mind, then she will do all she can to love you again and be a dependable mother-figure." Koj assured her. He poked Varus in the face, and the man swatted him away while muttering in his sleep. "Wake."

"Noooo…"

"I said wake. You need nourishment."

"Kiss my ass…" Varus rolled over.

"I would rather not. You need to eat. It is now after noon." Koj pressed patiently.

Varus stirred and sat up. He looked visibly better, in a disoriented kind of way. He didn't have the greyish-yellow tint to his skin anymore, but his eyes were still red for non-Sith reasons. "You mean afternoon?"

"That is what I said."

"No, you said… uh… never mind." Varus took the plate from his hands and dug in. "When are we being sent out again?"

"We will not be sent out for a few days. As dire as the situation may be, your rest is necessary."

Unfortunately, it was while Varus was still in the process of eating that Koj's datapad dinged with a message. "It's from the captain-rib guy." Cahjinawl said. Koj smirked at the nickname clearly being picked up from Varus's nickname for him. She handed it to Koj and he looked over the message.

What he read shook him. He felt a chill go down his spine, he paled, he found he had trouble standing and collapsed on a cot. The entirety of his existence was focused on a single sentence.

"Koj?" Varus asked, worried. Cahj looked frightened as well from the sudden change in his composure. Koj was not a man known for outward emotion and he looked… like someone died.

Rather than answer, Koj tossed the datapad onto the cot next to Varus, grabbed his staff, and ran out the door as fast as he could go. The datapad read:

 ** _From: Admiral Rebhorn_**

 ** _To: Koj'Ineh_**

 ** _Subject: Priority Alert!_**

 ** _Body: Two of the rebel gangs has separated from the infighting and is on route to the Ghorfa settlement! They will attack within the hour. It is my hope that the provided defense will hold, but none of the less I have dispatched a transport to them as well as four squads to help them pack up and flee. The transport has orders to bring them here. I have sent all of this ahead of you, but as I predict you will not hesitate to jump in the defense of your people I have given them instructions to follow your orders above mine if there is a conflict of orders._**

Varus shared a horrified glance with Cahjinawl before picking her up and sprinting after him.

Koj all but flew across the ship and forced aside any who stood in his way. In addition he took advantage of his Void-power in the Shadow-Step to go through walls when they were in his way. What was a bruise compared to broken bones and shattered dreams? What was hurt feelings to lives and potential extinction? While normally a polite man, he had no intention of asking for pardons this day for being rough. He interrupted private scenes and perhaps casual dinners and stepped on more than a few toes, but he neither noticed nor cared. Nothing would be between him and his destination. In this way he turned what would normally be an hour walk into a three minute wild sprint.

Koj did not stop until he arrived in the hanger and had to take the time to catch his breath and look for a pilot. He could fly simple hovercars, but ships designed for flight at several hundred kilometers a minute? Not his forte. "I need a pilot and a ship!" He called out loudly.

There was no short supply of pilots and ships, and a couple that were sharing stories around a crate gathered around him. "What you need… uh?"

"My name is Koj, I am the Elder of the Ghorfa to which your people protect." Koj explained as patiently as he could while feeling the need to just kidnap one and demand he take him to his destination. "I require transport. My people are under attack."

"Ghorfa… ah, yes. I heard some aliens were being protected by the Essay (Endangered Sentient Species Act)." One said.

Another pointed Koj over. "My ship is ready. It is that one right over there. Are your people near?"

"They are. Thank you." Koj bowed. "I do not mean to be rude, but time is urgent. May we leave now?"

"Of course, let me grab my keys and I'll be with you in a minute."

Koj wondered if they had a minute longer to waste. None of the less, this was progress. He and his newfound pilot separated, one to go to the control room to get his keys from the flight commander and the other to wait by the ship.

A full minute passed and no pilot… Koj grit his jaw angrily.

"Koj!" "Papa!"

Koj glanced over to see his family running. No words needed to be said. They knew what he intended to do, why he was here, and what he was waiting for. Well, perhaps not what he was waiting for specifically, but that detail was of little consequence.

"Koj…" Varus stopped by his side. "I'm so sorry…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Koj replied flatly. Then he forced his composure to soften. Varus did have a knack for taking blame and guilt not due him. "Your people's actions are their own."

"But… I'm their Keeper."

"No, you are not, and even if you were, they would not accept your judgement in the face of Rebhorn's reputation being opposed to yours up till now. What you are is a lost… a lost…" Koj couldn't find the word most of the galaxy used for a herd animal. "Herd thing that is lost from the rest of the herd and was rescued. A prince among them, to be sure, but you are not a key player in their lives AND WHERE IS THAT PILOT! It has been longer than a minute! It has now been multiple minutes!"

"I think he was using a phrase, dude, if he said to wait a minute."

"…" Koj sighed.

"You are going to help him?" Cahjinawl looked up to Varus with hope, and Varus stiffened.

Koj could imagine why. A conflict between the Ghorfa, his people's brother, and the Lost, his own people that were falling into madness. Koj respected the idea that there might be something done to save his people, but he had no intention of holding back if these Miraluka were out to kill his people.

But for Varus… Koj could see the conflict in his eyes. They may be his people, but Varus, through Koj, perhaps saw the Ghorfa just as much his own as the rest of them. Varus had gone out of his way to rescue them along with Koj. He took responsibility for them. He gave them part of his land and named Koj and Cahjinawl as heirs to the land's deed if he died.

Fight his people to save the people of his brother and niece.

Or do nothing and perhaps let them die.

"I…" Varus said in between gasps of air. Koj frowned, this pressure was much too soon. Varus was no where near recovered enough from the sheer hell he put himself through to be placed in such a position. Varus had watched his mother die, saw his brother go insane, kill his clone in a titanic duel ontop a volcano, saw his people and some friends fall into madness, had to fight so many of them, saw his people slaughter each other, had a difficult period with his lover, and through it all forced himself to go with a short nap here and there and a nibble of food. He was still at his limit physically, mentally, and emotionally. One good night's rest would not fix that.

Koj did something he never recalled doing, at least to anyone older than ten. He hugged Varus in a one-armed embrace. Varus stiffened again. Koj whispered, "Brother. Fret not. These are my people, just as they are yours. Allow me to take care of my own. You take care of your own. I will not begrudge you the opportunity to come and try to talk your people away from a slaughter, but please understand me when I say that they are making their choice. These ones that choose to lift their hands against my own will not be shown any mercy on my part, and they do not deserve your efforts. You will only waste your words on them, and I would never subject you to getting your own's blood on your hands. Stay. This is where you belong."

Varus said nothing, but he was more relaxed and didn't look as conflicted anymore. He was still conflicted, but Koj felt the worst was put aside. This was just one of those times where all one could do is endure it until the days of peace returned. It would be ignorant and stupid to say these were good times.

"At last." Koj mumured. The pilot returned. The man quickly apologized for taking so long, something about red-tape until he said why and then suddenly the Admiral was telling him to forget the regulations and just go. Koj interrupted the tale, "I understand, let us make haste."

"Right." The man inserted the key into the door, turned it, and hit a button. The door opened to reveal the inside of his transport. It was roomy for five people along with a bit of cargo all in one space. He dashed in and climbed some stairs up to the pilot chair.

Koj entered in as well, but stopped as he remembered something important. He turned and extended his hand, "Come." His daughter ran in past him and climbed up to take a seat. It would be dangerous, but Koj and promised he would not leave her behind again. Not when it was dire and had the potential for him to not return soon.

Koj shut the door and took his seat as well.

The flight took forever. In reality it took minutes, but with each second lasting eons, it was all Koj could do to not sprout wings and fly himself. When they neared, the scene laid out before them was one where the village was already in progress of entering the transport with their belongings.

"What is happening?" The pilot wondered. He started the landing process a little to the side.

"My people are being attacked by some of your own." Koj repeated. "Your admiral has generously donated a transport for us to depart. Would you be so kind as to offer some assistance in this?"

"Uh, of course. I will see what I can do."

"It is appreciated."

"Where is the bad guys?" Cahj looked out the window, but saw nothing.

"Thankfully they are late for… 'the party'." Koj tried to joke. No one laughed. It didn't make him feel better. The idea they were late was good, but the joke didn't work for him. He wasn't feeling it.

Koj left the ship with Cahj in tow and he immediately took up command of the Miraluka squads, the transports, and his people. He kept Cahj by his side. Her presence unnerved him as it meant she was potentially in danger, but it also assured him that he could see with his own eyes that she was well and protect her with his own hands. He trusted Varus, but he felt he had trouble trusting Varus' people under the situation they were facing. He even felt wary on the ship despite it being the largest haven of sane people right now.

The Miraluka had orders to bring the Ghorfa to the FleetMother, but Koj had different plans. He would apologize to the Miraluka in his own way later, but he didn't trust them with his people's safety at this moment when they had trouble ensuring their own safety and security as it was. He directed them to take his people abord the transports, as per the plan, but that they would be fleeing to the Sun Pyramid.

The Sun Pyramid was so named for its structure and positioning. The miniature sun within Forge was regulated by two pyramid structures, one at the North pole and the other at the South pole. These two pyramid structures were ancient Jeda'ii structures, one of which they had used in their travel to meet The One.

They were leaving Forge.

Progress was fast but unsteady. The Ghorfa population was understandably small, but there were conditions to consider in such a rushed environment. Four were freshly pregnant and another had been pregnant for some months already. Koj felt the instinct to move them fast but with feather pillows. It was a funny instinct in hindsight and one that was in conflict with itself, but it did lead to complications. The pregnant woman were the first to be secured for their importance and with all the needs they required, this slowed them down in a time when every second counted. This was followed by the men because of their small numbers. The men wanted to move food, but Koj had to stop them for The One had food and supplies of his own. One consideration was a supply of nurses and medical supplies, and this Koj ensured would be included. Despite The One's hospitality, his ability to properly house females in the final days of pregnancy might be limited on short notice, especially once they give birth.

If Koj had the option, he would go with a hospital. However that was not an option and they had to make do. Many of the Ghorfa had been trained in nursing and the birthing process, so he felt they would manage. The process was, after all, a natural one at its roots.

It was when they were nearing the final moments of loading when the first sign of barbarism showed itself. The Miraluka had placed droids and a turret in the midst of the village for protection, and these defenses failed to stop the first of the Lost from attacking. Koj was forced to step in. He shrounded his staff in the Void. It took on the shape of a scythe and he slew them swiftly and mercilessly. "Why are these defenses doing nothing!" He demanded.

The turret sat on a tower overlooking the village, and the droids patrolled the streets. They were few, but their lack of response scared him.

"I don't know!" A Miraluka responded. "My best guess is that they do not know how to distinguish between us and them yet."

"Are they blind?!"

"Sir Ghorfa, they are droids…"

Koj didn't understand the inner workings of programming or computer intelligence, but he did understand how much worse this made things. He trusted that the defenses would slow the enemy down enough for them to leave without incident, but this now meant he had to order the Miraluka squads away from helping his people load up with emergency supplies and depart… which meant more time lost.

"Are we ready to leave?" Koj asked. Another group of Lost ran around the corner and came at them swinging lightsabers and shooting guns. Koj's people jumped behind cover. Koj hid until the enemy came closer. He cut them down just as the ones before.

The one to answer was a Ghorfa. "Nearly. We are missing two of our females. Our sudden departure was not taken well by many, and some have outright refused to leave our new home."

Koj growled. "Can you lead me to them?"

"I can."

"Good. Miraluka." Koj directed his attention to them. "I am entrusting you with my people's lives, and my people's future. Fail here, and I will make the Miraluka pay ten-fold, are we clear?"

The Miraluka nodded, somewhat fearfully.

"Direct me to them." Koj ordered the Ghorfa from before. The Ghorfa ran, and Koj stayed behind only long enough to direct Cahjinawl onto the transport before following after the other. A few laser bolts were directed at them, but the Lost had lost their ability to aim along with their sanity and empathy. She hid when necessary and Koj made sure to clear a path in cutting down every Miraluka he found. Their numbers were steadily growing the deeper they went. He must have slain a hundred of them by now. The enemy had all but forgone the pretense of weapons and were just clamoring to tear at him with their hands and screaming the usual bouts of loneliness and inner hunger.

The two woman in question were huddled up together in the same abode. Koj entered in and forwent all pretense in pulling them out. They could thank them later when they lived to do it. The woman who had come to help him pushed them along, and this time they did not resist, as entire droves and mobs of insane Miraluka chased after them.

From the insane rambling Koj heard, it sounded like the Miraluka were targetting his people because they were not enduring the same pain they were. With the Miraluka's ability to create bonds of such deep level, that meant they could stave off their pain, loneliness, and starvation by making bonds with the Ghorfa.

Unfortunately, from what Koj had already seen, that was lethal, and he had no intent of allowing that.

With the transports in sight and a mob behind them, Koj released his power more. He created a monster of shadow and Void around him, the torso of a great skeleton of such size that it covered the entire street, and with his great arm he slew attackers by the handfuls. One tried to jump onto him, and he only took this one in his Void-grip and crushed him like an egg. Blood poured from his monster-void's fingers, and he allowed the corpse to fall. He was begrudged to use the power granted to him by the Abomination, but then it was nothing more than that. Power. A tool. A weapon. He felt none of the hatred of the Abomination follow, and so knew his mind was his own. He was free to use his gifts as he saw fit, no matter the source.

"Come, if you seek death." He dared the Lost. His display of power managed to pierce the insanity of the Lost and remind them of an old emotion: fear.

* * *

Daughter held Luke's hand. She focused as well as she could, but even after hours of concentration her efforts were fruitless.

Luke Skywalker was unable to tap into the Force properly.

Daughter's nature was polar opposite of Sons. She had no power within herself. She retained no Force energy within herself to use or shape in order to manipulate the world around her or herself, but she flowed with the Force more than anyone else in the galaxy.

She had been overjoyed of meeting her youngest sibling before. Daughter did not know much about Anakin and to learn that he was married and with two children, followed by a promise to introduce them all was almost too much to take in. She could barely contain her joy and may have thoroughly annoyed her brother in the process. Son had locked his tower after the 23rd time she had flown in and out in the span of one day. She didn't know what to do with herself.

Then they had come, and it was a bittersweet reunion. As a family they had been traumatized. As it was explained: A Sith Lord had possessed Luke temporarily. The young boy barely came out with his life intact. He had many broken bones, pulled muscles, and deep bruises. There were areas of skin that were in the beginning stages of peeling off and there was bits of gangrene on his extremities. As a child he was utterly silent and emotionless, like a statue. He had no expression or care for anything, not caring to answer any questions or respond to any statement or take notice of any gesture. His eyes were distant and detached. His Force presence was neither Dark nor Light, but utterly absent as well. Daughter had never felt a person who had no Force presence, no life energy at all. Even the lowliest plant retained some Force energy, but Luke… it could not be found within him. He held none within and his ability to tap into the Force was blocked.

It was as though his flesh, emotions, and soul had all been sucked out.

Everyone had tried to help. Son grumbled about it, but Daughter could tell he was worried and wanted to make a good impression (for once). He managed to heal the boy physically and do some gentle brain therapy. It was enough to give him an inkling of emotion. He wasn't a robot anymore (as 98% of decisions small or great are directly affected by emotions) but he lacked the emotional depth to appear… human.

Daughter's turn was to help him reopen himself to the Force at least a little bit. They all doubted Luke would be a capable Force-user at this point, but it would literally shorten his lifespan to a few scant years if he had no life energy within himself.

It was a type of therapy that Father had used on few occassions, but never to cure a lack of Force to this extreme. Much like giving someone blood she had to flow her own energies into him. Too much and it might be dangerous, but at this first stage she only needed to pour a tiny bit into his 'veins'. They did it in her garden as it was the center of Light here.

Daughter put his hands back in his lap and patted his head. He responded with meeting her eyes, but his face was blank. "I'm going to talk to your parents a moment, would you mind staying here?" He showed no sign of hearing her, though she knew he did. Not wanting to push him further, she left him in the clearing and walked just out of earshot to where the expectant parents were doing their best to be patient.

Anakin didn't give her a moment to begin. "Well? Is he okay? Will he have the Force?"

Padme asked, "He won't die in a few years, will he?"

Daughter gulped. She had never met a doctor, but this must be what it felt like. "I'm sorry." The look on their faces could only be described as shattered, but her brother would not give up.

"I don't understand, what is wrong? No one can LIVE without the Force?!"

"I don't know why he is alive then." Daughter admitted openly. "But when I tried to… let it flow into him, all I found was destroyed openings."

Padme whimpered. Probably not her best choice of words. "Destroyed?"

"This Sith Lord, this Nihilus, was a being so powerful, so massive, and so wrong that entering his veins overloaded him. Think of it like… every Force vein in his body being forced to give birth to elephants. Only rather than leave gaping holes, the veins imploded."

Anakin was amazed, but his view was nothing like Padme's. As a mother she understood what giving birth was like, and shoving a baby about 3-5 inches wide through a 2 centimeter wide tube was bad enough. Doing it with elephants was… Padme was shaking. (Note: I'm male, I'm guessing its 3-5 inches. Maybe 6.)

Daughter was briefly surprised when Padme shoved her aside to get to her baby boy, but she thought nothing of it. She just walked away to let them weep. It wasn't her place. She tried and failed.

Her attention was drawn to a second concern. She found Ahsoka Tano watching the scene from a distance while leaning against a tree. She was able to tell what was going on and was mourning silently, but she had other matters on her mind. Daughter didn't know what it was. All the woman said was that she 'needed space', and 'tranquility', and 'to think'. Ahsoka did not reveal her thoughts and Daughter would not intrude.

All the same, it troubled the woman and Daughter felt there was at least something she could do today right. "Whatever it is on your mind, young one. May I suggest meditation?"

"Not sure if it will help." Ahsoka replied politely.

"You would be surprised." Daughter turned to look over her garden. It was vast as a forest going as far as the eye could see. "We are often too busy being focused on our own views, on the individual leafs and events, that we sometimes need to step back and see the forest."

"It won't fix anything."

"No, it won't. But then gathering information or reflection fixes nothing. It is action that does, and yet we cannot take proper action without information or reflection to back it up."

Ahsoka nodded. She seemed to agree. "I understand… To be fair, meditation is something I have always done regularly, but for once what I need is not…" She struggled to find the right word. "Parables. Whispers of morals. Mere echoes. I need surety and plain and simple understanding. I barely know what I think or feel right now, so I can't take confusing things."

Daughter considered her. Plain and simple Jedi meditation involved using the Light to listen to the Force's flow, and tap into the vast experience of a sub-deity that was the combined consciousness of all that have been. Yet, the words and messages passed back was rare, confusing jumbles. Daughter was lucky that it was not the case with her. The more you flowed with the Force, the easier it was to hear. Yet there was no mortal like herself. Luke and Leia supposedly were able to freely see the Force and interact with it as if it was a playmate. From the Force's personality, it most likely wanted a relationship with them as the Chosen One's own children. It would make them the grandchildren of the Force.

Perhaps what Ahsoka wanted was something less confusing and more direct.

"If you wish, I can offer myself for a time."

Ahasoka's eyes widened theatrically. "What?!"

"I said I can offer myse-"

"Okay, please rephrase that. It sounds wrong." Ahsoka tried to hide back a smile.

Daughter was confused, but requiessed. "I will offer my services?"

"Okay, that at least sounds less… wrong… but sure. What do you have in mind?"

"Walk with me." Daughter requested. She walked down the path in a general direction away from the Skywalker's. Ahsoka followed.

"Take off your shoes. Let's walk barefoot." Daughter instructed.

Ahsoka was a little confused, but did as Daughter wanted.

What Daughter had in mind was something similar to what most people would call Chakra cleansing. While Chakra was nothing more than a myth, the emotional and mental impact of what it represented was more real. There were several primary emotions that affected a person and those were things that needed to be dealt with in a healthy manner to be a centered person, and from what Daughter could see, Ahsoka was not.

Jedi were trained to be emotionally stunted, not healthy and balanced. As much as Daughter respected their services and heroism, she found them purely hypocrites. No person can force themselves to be emotionless and yet still retain the things that make them able to feel empathy. For that matter, the requirement to be in perfect control of one's emotions is simply ludicrous and overly binding. No person can be expected to be so self-disciplined or logical as what the Jedi demanded. Being self-disciplined and unbiased were very very good qualities, but the Jedi took it to such an extreme it was pure hypocrisy.

The first thing of course being pride. They were so full of pride they refused to reflect. That alone was an emotion right there.

It was a little awkward for Ahsoka to walk barefoot. She was used to boots. Her red feet clashed with the green landscape around her.

Daughter watched her walk. The woman was awkward and having a difficult time of it, even though it was just grass. There was definitely something on her mind. Soon they came across a small lake and walked along the sand. Ahsoka had a visibly easier time without twigs and roots in the way. After a time, Daughter noted she seemed calmer. It helped to be on stable ground despite being unstable inside. "What is it you fear most?"

Ahsoka looked back up to her. "Um, snakes I guess. Maybe? That or roaches."

"I don't mean like animals… I mean deep down, what is your greatest fear?"

Ahsoka was silent a moment. "Being left alone."

Immediately Ahsoka was walking unsteadily again. Daughter figured this was what was troubling her in some way. "How is this your greatest fear? Have you been left alone?"

"I didn't just wind up in the Jedi Order at random… my family actively looked for a Master to get rid of me." Ahsoka explained. "It is not uncommon for little Jedi to be considered freaks or monsters by their community. Blind hatred, racism, things of a similar nature are still common."

"I am sorry, it sounds rough." Daughter tried to be sympathetic, but couldn't understand it. She had never experienced nor seen others around her experience such a thing. She had always been with her family.

"The Master I ended up with was Plo'Koon." She chuckled. "And I idolized him. He was everything I envisioned in the Jedi. Heroic, self-sacrificing, strong, a natural leader, cared about everyone. He was killed by a Sith in front of me, and I recently came to learn that my vision of him was… childish. He dabbled in the Dark Side despite being an advocate for the Light. He wasn't perfect… Not that the Dark Side is evil, mind you."

"I understand." Daughter replied. "You feel he has abandoned you. He died, and even the image you had of him is destroyed."

"And I am in love with an idiot of a Sith who is in many ways much like him…" Ahsoka sighed. "Heroic when he isn't being childish, strong, a natural leader despite his words to the contrary because he cares about everyone, and most of all… self-sacrificing to the point of almost suicidal. He is full of so much guilt that he values his own life as pocket change."

"You feel he will abandon you and kill himself?"

Ahsoka was silent a long moment. "I don't know… I mean, he is not directly suicidal, but he lacks the instinct of self-preservation that would tell most people 'HEY, THIS IS A REALLY STUPID IDEA!' And he directly said that he, for a short time, contemplated a plan to save me by directly abandoning me and putting himself in a position to die a painful, tortured death. It is as though he refuses to believe he can die peacefully, as though he has something he has to atone for by giving himself up to pain, loneliness, and guilt."

"That…" Daughter hesitated. "I have no idea what to say to that. I can barely even grasp it. It isn't the plan of an idiot, but it is definietely one of a fool. Does he have anything to atone for?"

"He remembers murdering people in a past life… including Plo'Koon."

That brought Daughter to a halt. "Oh, young one. No wonder it is so complicated."

"It wouldn't be so bad if his past life didn't stop catching up to him." Ahsoka sighed. "There have been times I've managed to convince him he is a good person, but then the consequences of his past life keep finding him and shoving it all in his face."

"I am curious, though. How can you say 'past life'? I doubt he has reincarnated."

"He went through a mind-wipe by the Jedi, and had temporary amnesia."

"Then the person from the past is dead. All he has done is inherit the problems." Daughter reflected. "But, young one. If he has not gone through with the plan, and was honest enough with you to say what it was, then just as his past is dead, then so should the plan."

"It's not so much that as it is the fact that it went through his mind to begin with… The fact that he is still capable of thinking it."

"People think all kinds of things they never go through with. I cannot count the number of times my brother has threatened Father or myself. Most of it was just him being childish. He is a sore loser. And you cannot tell me you have not even had a betraying thought for Varus? Perhaps cheating on him or hurting him in some way?"

Ahsoka eyed her. "Nothing more than thought?"

"Right."

"Then… I guess I might have had thoughts on occasion." Ahsoka smiled. "Viggo Mortenson is hot."

"Yet would you ever go through with the thought you had?"

"No!"

"Then how can you be angry with him for having nothing more than a thought, one very much in line with his personality?"

Ahsoka sighed. "It was more than that, he tried to rope Anakin and Koj into it too. He was beginning to do it but didn't."

"Okay… that makes it much worse. It is worth being upset, but not being confused. It shouldn't be unclear, but rather clear that he hurt you and deserves to be punished, yet only temporarily."

"I know…" Ahsoka whispered. Daughter noted she no longer was standing awkwardly in the sand, but was fidgety. "and I'm ashamed. I should be dealing with this better."

Daughter shrugged and did something that surprised Ahsoka. She stripped and entered the water. "What are you doing?"

"Enjoying the pool. Come." Daughter replied. She leaned back and sighed. Her green hair ironically became invisible in the pool. She looked bald. "It's warm."

"But what if people come across us?" Ahsoka tried. With nothing more than a gesture on Daughter's part, a massive tree wall appeared all around. "Oh. I thought you don't have power."

"Father lets me manipulate my garden freely. My power is limited to what he gives me. Now get in… You still aren't getting in."

"But-"

"Ahsoka…"

"Fine." Ahsoka grumbled. "But note this is under protest."

"Noted, don't care."

Ahsoka followed her lead in stripping and going in. Daughter noted she was visibly uncomfortable. It was unfortunate, and something she disliked about Jedi. They taught that pleasures were wrong, and the result was that they disapproved of simple things. Like floating in a warm lake. That or Ahsoka was uncomfortable with her body, which was another tack off for the Jedi in Daughter's mind. The body was a temple. You don't ruin it or sell it or expose all of its secrets like many do, but you also don't hide it away in a dark place as if it is wrong to have.

Not like Daughter was ogling her. If anything, she didn't care there was another woman in the lake with her. That wasn't the point. She just wanted to enjoy a nice float and for Ahsoka to do the same. She was already considering closing her eyes and falling asleep.

But there was a point to this however. "You are only a woman, Ahsoka… you can't expect perfection of yourself."

"I know…"

"If you expect perfection, you deny growth. Growth requires failure and learning from it."

"Yes, yes. I know."

"I realize you know, but it still needs to be said!" Daughter replied a bit more loudly than before.

"Right, sorry. Um, is there a point to this?"

"Does there have to be?" There was, but she wanted Ahsoka to consider the question.

"Uh…"

"What's wrong with just enjoying a nice lake?"

"N-nothing."

"Then enjoy it. Let yourself feel entitled to SOMETHING for Light's sake. You won't get anywhere beating yourself up."

"But… do I have to be naked for this?"

Daughter closed her eyes. "Do whatever you want. My eyes are closed and I'm drifting over here away from you. Clothes or not, make up your mind and enjoy it. Don't waste the time we are using to relax in questioning and 'work'."

"No… no. It's fine." Ahsoka changed her mind back and forth too quickly for Daughter's taste. She sighed again and drifted. She didn't allow herself to fall asleep, as she was maintaining the lake's temperature. She made it warm, yet not dangerous to fall asleep in. She actually aimed to make the other girl pass out. She smiled when she heard gentle snoring a few minutes later.

* * *

 **Note: I think sticking Daughter and Koj in the same room is a barrel of laughs. It would be like sticking Teal'C in the same room as Drax the Destroyer.**


	4. Ep01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 3

**Note: For some reason I am receiving no reviews. I AM GETTING EMAILS that they are being made, but they don't appear here for me to reply to them.**

 **I think is being buggy.**

* * *

 **Episode 1 -** **In the Path of Keepers Part 3**

* * *

Ahsoka awoke to find herself in the room Plagues provided. She wasn't wearing her own clothing, but rather a simple white robe. She grasped onto the material for a moment, trying to place when she had put it on and why she was in the room.

Then she remembered falling asleep in the lake with Daughter. Heat, blood, and humiliation flooded to her face, in that order, and she dived back under the sheets. "That is the last time I let her manipulate me…" She vowed. There was nothing between them romantically nor were they the type to ogle each other, but that didn't change the fact that she had been unclothed… in public… in a lake.

But it had been nice. The lake was warm and soothing. It had pulled away her worries and concerns at the time. Ahsoka had to admit she felt a lot better. She was still hurting and afraid, but it wasn't to the point of making her unstable like it had before. This was a manageable pain. Ahsoka felt she was nearing a conclusion of some kind with Varus, and was afraid of what it would be. But she knew that the next time she saw him the pain would either go away or increase, and something big would happen. Things could not continue as it was. She had too many doubts and concerns, and that was unhealthy.

Maybe they could go to the lake together… in the wide open.

"No!" Ahsoka forced her thoughts away and banged her head into the mattress repeatedly. "Bad thoughts! Bad!" She was NOT an exhibitionist! Intimacy was sacred and intimate between married partners…

Only they weren't married and had already… done it. A few times.

Was Varus an exhibitionist?

"Gaaah!" Ahsoka resorted to slamming her face into the bedpost. "Back! Get back!... Daughter, I swear, you are as bad as Son. He recognizes such things as wrong but you just don't care!"

Rather than allow her thoughts to continue spiral down a very bad direction, Ahsoka jumped up and changed into her normal clothes. She couldn't completely blame Daughter, even if she wanted to. Padme had warned her that reaching a certain stage in their relationship would open her thoughts toward more intimate things, but it didn't make it feel less wrong to have thoughts in such a direction when by most morale and spiritual laws it was wrong. Ahsoka was better than this. She was pure. She was…

Ah, who was she fooling.

"I blame you." Ahsoka announced as she came across Daughter later.

Daughter looked confused. "You're welcome? I was just on my way to see if you wished to go for a morning jog, and explore your self-esteem and will."

"Thanks, I got plenty." Ahsoka smiled. She really didn't want to get into another session and potentially come out humiliated again.

They entered another room and stopped. People were fleeing into the temple through the portal. Plageus was already there as well as Anakin. Ahsoka forgot the previous conversation in light of this. She ran over and asked, "What is happening?"

The people coming through were Ghorfa!

"I don't know." Anakin answered honestly. But he looked as worried as Ahsoka felt. He helped another couple of them that left the portal and were suitably freaked out by the experience.

Something must have happened on Forge!

Varus!

Ahsoka forced down the impending panic that she felt coming and focused. Whatever had happened or whatever was happening that would cause the Ghorfa to leave Forge and come here… Varus could handle it.

To her surprise, a few in the room were with swollen bellies. Plagues was with them with glowing hands over them. She didn't know what he was doing, but it was most likely checking on their health or healing.

"This one will release in a few hours. Stress has pushed her inner time-table." Plagues announced. He motioned to one of his insectoid servants. "Take her to the medical ward. Son-"

"Oh, hell no." Son replied.

"I am busy here. You will have to take care of it until I can be there."

Son growled. "Daughter can-"

"She cannot heal if there is a tragedy. Go."

Son glared down at the pregnant woman as though she was the center of all of his problems. She stared back fearfully. "Son…" Plageus stressed.

"Fine!" He snapped. "But don't say I don't do anything for you."

They walked off, and Anakin muttered, "No, it just like pulling teeth to get you to do it." Plagues chuckled.

"STOP TOUCHING ME!"

Ahsoka recognized that voice. What was she doing here? The Jedi moved through the room towards the voice to find Cahjinawl struggling with a couple of the insectoid servants. "Cahj?"

"'shoka! Get them off!"

Ahsoka told the servants it was okay, that she would handle it, and they complied. They flew off to help elsewhere. "I thought you liked them?"

Cahj shook in disgust. "They look cool, but would you like being poked with those finger things?"

"No, not really." Ahsoka smirked in amusement, even while her heart beat faster. Cahjinawl was here. Varus would NEVER let his niece out of his sight, or Koj's sight, without it being truly bad. What was happening? Was Varus okay? "Where is your father?"

Cahj visibly shook, but for another reason than disgust. Her eyes were distant and scared and filled with panic. "He's coming. He promised. He… he said go through before him. He said he would follow."

Ahsoka looked to the portal and found it was still open. People were still coming through one at a time. The procession had turned from being Ghorfa to Miraluka. Dozens of Miraluka were coming through as well as what looked like the entire Ghorfa population.

"I'm sure he will. He is a stubborn man." Ahsoka comforted her.

Before long, she was proven right. Koj stepped through, only the way it happened made Ahsoka all the more worried. He stumbled in backwards with a person on his chest struggling and clawing at him. The attacker tried to bite down on his neck, and Koj shoved a Void-arm clear through the man's chest and threw him aside. The portal closed.

"PAPA!" Cahj ran to him and Koj let her embrace him. He was exhausted. From what Ahsoka could see, he was covered in blood as well. The sight of it only made her heart beat even faster. What was going on?

"Koj, what happened?" Anakin asked, sounding a lot calmer than he felt.

Koj looked up to them, almost too tired to raise his head. He laid his staff down. "Much. Riots, mass murder, mass insanity, anarchy, gangs, civil war, factions. Now: monsters with the power of Nihilus and a population akin to your cheesy zombie films."

Ahsoka couldn't feel the ground under her anymore. She felt dissy and let herself collapse to her knees next to him. Her heart contracted painfully tight and her muscles spasmed. Ah, a panic attack.

Breathe. Just breathe.

Anakin just stared at the man in horror as he struggled to process what the Ghorfa had stated. "But it has only been a few weeks!"

Koj said nothing.

Breathe, Ahsoka. She could only focus on that. Only this morning she had felt better than she had in a long time. Despite her humiliation and immoral train of thought, she had felt more centered and on solid ground than she had since she told Varus she needed some space. Now it was all gone and she felt she was in a spiral of tormenting thoughts.

His people were falling apart into madness.

The Ghorfa had to flee.

The Miraluka guarding the temple had to flee.

Koj and Cahj had to leave.

Varus is fighting this madness… Alone.

Meanwhile, what was she doing? She was goofing around! "We have to help."

Anakin and Koj stopped their discussion to look to her. She had completely blocked them out as she panicked. She repeated more firmly, "We have to go to Forge!"

Anakin was conflicted, and this made him hesitate. Ahsoka snapped at him. "Open the door! We need to go!"

"I-I can't."

Ahsoka stared at him. She couldn't believe him. She grew angry. "This is Varus!" Anakin looked even more guilty, and conflicted.

"Do not yell at him." Koj stated. "He already understands the implications of what this means towards his former apprentice."

"Then why-"

"Because he has a son." Koj replied.

Ahsoka stopped, and like cold water, remembered. They had been here for Luke. Luke couldn't take care of himself. This was a crucial stage for him, and he was young. Anakin could not leave him.

Varus was a grown man. He might have issues taking care of himself at times, but he was no less an adult.

"I… I'm sorry I snapped at you." Ahsoka felt humiliated again, and ashamed with herself. Where was this foundation she had just this morning? She couldn't let herself get angry like this.

"It's fine." Anakin smiled, though a bit hurt. "Koj, what about Ahsoka? Can you help me get her back?" Ahsoka looked to the man expectantly.

"And do what?" Koj asked.

"Help?"

Koj shook his head. "I understand your need to help, but at this point all efforts they are making is to stim the tide. There is no solution except to let the Lost kill themselves off, or a complete purge. The Miraluka, this morning, started production of a droid army from the Forge to supplement their own."

Anakin paled. "And if I remember from history correctly… the Forge could make entire armies of droids in a month, at a rate that could rival the entire Confederacy."

"Then we should assume it will take days for them to produce the number necessary to purge the Lost."

"So, what? We just sit here and do nothing?" Ahsoka wondered.

Anakin and Koj both looked unsure. Anakin sighed and said, "At this point, it may be best to wait a while, and fight to retake the temple from our end. Establish communication, nothing more. See what the Miraluka have in mind. We should keep a door open for them if things go south."

"The temple is in the north, not south." Koj argued.

"It is a manner of speech…" Ahsoka replied. "It means 'if things go bad'."

"Ah. Then I am in agreement. We no longer have a primary role in this war, but at the very least we should keep the door secure and be in contact with our allies." Koj leaned back against the wall in exhaustion. His clothes were usually white or grey ever since his time in the Eternal Hand, but now it was stained red in blood he had shed. "Just… let me rest for now."

"I'll talk to Plagues." Anakin said. "He might provide a small group of Killik to help. Then I'll see if the Miraluka here want to help make a grab for it… after I explain the situation to Padme." He grimaced. "Even if I am gone only one day, she won't be happy. But we can afford one day."

"I will return with you as well. My people are in good hands here." Koj rested his eyes. Anakin walked off to do what he said, as no one argued against it. This left Ahsoka standing there wondering what to do.

She felt hesitant to go to Varus's side. As much as she wanted to be, she knew that to do so would be to accept his flaws. Many flaws were okay, but there were flaws within him that meant that a relationship wouldn't work in the long run.

She couldn't let go of the doubt he gave her.

If she could fix the crack in him that lead him to do such things and be willing to go alone all the time and hurt her, then she could see it working. It was his biggest problem and the one thing she could not truly accept. Talking with him did not work, and his language was actually a violent one. It was why slapping him upside the back of the head worked more than anything else. It was her way of speaking his language.

All the same… she couldn't just sit by and do nothing. It had been a few weeks. If Varus was going to learn how much he hurt her, then this time away after giving him a piece of her mind would have done it. Continuing to isolate herself would be pointless.

But what could she do? She was just a Jedi. She was a Force-user, but just one among many now. The Miraluka were an entire race of them. She was surrounded by powerful people: Koj, Anakin, Varus, Son, Plageus. Compared to them she was nothing.

As Daughter said, there was no power in the Light. It didn't draw in the Force and use it. It did the opposite, letting the Force flow through you.

It was like water. You can't transform water into ice in your hands if it won't stay in your hand to begin with. If it poured through your fingers, you couldn't do anything with it except go with the flow.

Ahsoka stopped, an idea coming to her.

Go… with the flow.

"Daughter!" Ahsoka exclaimed, "Is there really no power in the Light?" Daughter was a little startled by the sudden question, but looked to her curiously. Ahsoka continued, "I mean, I understand that the Jedi who rely purely on the Light cannot use things such as Force Lightning." Or like her former student, Slavian, who had focused on the Light with such zeal that Ahsoka realized he had been crippling himself. He had no power to levitate or push or pull or do anything because, as Daughter said, there was no power in it.

Daughter looked a bit hesitant, but saw how fervantly Ahsoka wanted to know. She relented. "There is no power in the Light, but!" She said quickly before Ahsoka could be too disappointed. "There is a different kind of power."

"Will you teach me?"

"Aren't you a Jedi Knight? You have no need for teachers."

"And you are a being of pure Light, practically a demi-god born of the force itself. Even Master Yoda would be on his knees to hear your lessons." Ahsoka pressed.

Daughter saw the woman would not relent, and nodded. "Very well… My only condition is to not tell my brother. He would be jealous if he knew of this."

"Deal."

* * *

"Here is the situation as it stands." Rebhorn stood before the remaining Miraluka council. It was a scant ten individuals, including Varus and Visas. The two stood to the side, and Varus was barely listening. His thoughts were in internal torment. Visas saw it and focused, considering she might have to relay the meeting back to him when he was able to listen properly.

"We have lost the North Sun Temple." Rebhorn stated. "This has cut us off from the other Tho Yar."

"Did the Ghorfa get out safely?" A councilman asked.

"Our scouts saw them enter the temple seconds before the Lost. Whether they managed to open the gate and leave or turn it into their gravesite, I cannot say." Rebhorn said. He kept an internal eye on Varus as he said this. As brash as it was, it needed to be stated bluntly. He saw Varus flinch and become even more worried, and felt sorry for the young man.

"The second thing, is this." Rebhorn continued. He hit a button on his remote, and a holographic image appeared in the room. Thanks to technology from the Forge, they could make holographic images a Miraluka can see without resorting to water.

The holographic image showed three separate scenes. Each one was identical in that they showed an area litered with bodies. He said, "Here we have three instances of Lost groups slaughtered by rivals. If you take special note of the bodies, you will see they are a bit unusual. To explain: The doctor on sight found few with wounds. The majority of them died from old age."

This drew Varus' attention and he eyed them closely. Rebhorn figured that would mean something to him. "Also, from reports Varus Wynn and Visas Marr, there was a village of ours attacked where the dead were found in much the same condition. Death by old age."

"Would this be a new weapon?"

Rebhorn shook his head. "As reasonable an assumption as that might be, this is not a weapon. It is a person, or rather, a set of people. Our intelligence believes that a few Miraluka have 'evolved' their hunger to the point that it gives them power over the Void…" He hesitated. "Similar to Nihilus."

The whole room erupted in angry shouts and exclamation. Varus and Visas were silent, having already known this.

"Silence!" Rebhorn called. He pointed to one. "You first."

"Can we be sure of this? I do not doubt these people died of something akin to rapid aging, but can we really assume that our own people are becoming Voidsmith's?"

"As if ONE was bad enough!" Someone yelled.

Varus spoke up, "I spoke to a woman that survived long enough to give over her child and tell me what happened. She described a woman having killed the village by just touching people. Touching equals rapid aging equals death. Sounds to me like techniques similar to Nihilus."

"Is there a solution? A cure? A weakness to this?"

"It works by making physical contact with a person or creating a kind of void-tentacle to reach out and touch the person for you." Varus explained. "In actuality what is happening is you are making a Force bond with a person and passing on your hunger to them, thereby eating their Force energy and putting off your own death… I have known Force-users who rely entirely on the Light to survive brief contact, but very few. Letting the Force 'flow' like Jedi do sometimes lets them retain a small amount when contact is severed… if it is."

"Yes, but this hunger… can it kill them on its own?"

"Yes." Varus answered.

"I would advise against just letting them die off on their own." Rebhorn argued the inevitable conclusion to that thought. "It may mean they WILL die off eventually, but only after taking hundreds and thousands of victims down with them, and it may be drawn out for years."

There was a brief silence, and Rebhorn hated what he was about to say. It was what he had called the meeting for in the end, but it didn't mean he had to like it. "So we come to two possible conclusions to this… and let us decide on one quickly, as if this situation were to continue to escalate, it may mean the end of our race. These Voidsmith are growing in power and number, and may come for us next when there are no Lost left."

"Scenario one. We finish manufactoring this droid army with all speed, and purge them. I do not propose killing off our own race, but only those that cannot be saved. If anyone is capable of communication, then they will be exiled to the same planet as our Rakata neighbors. If anyone is able to live under our law, then they will be spared. Anyone too far gone to be capable of either and only live to kill and murder, will be purged."

The silence turned stifling. This was heavy talk. "I do not take my words lightly, but make no mistake. We are at war for our very existence."

"What is your second solution?" Someone asked.

Here it was… "I made a mistake." Rebhorn stated honestly. "I hate the Network, now more than ever. I do not hesitate to say it was flawed and wrong, to have a system of culture and law based solely on emotional empathy on a massive scale. The fact is that we are where we are right now because of it. We were drug addicts, and the Network was our drug. However, my mistake in my political revolution was in underestimating our reliance on it as a people. Without it, we are lost. With it, we are dependent. And so…" Rebhorn took a moment to breathe. "We revive the Keeper bloodline and cure this hunger."

The silence turned stunned, but the biggest ones stunned were Varus and Visas. Visas snarled. The man had chosen to announce this solution publically among the council specifically to pressure Varus into doing it. Visas also didn't like Ahsoka, but she no less recognized the pressure this put on him. Ahsoka was not a Chosen. Varus could not pick her to bond with as a Keeper. And then what of his brother Koj and his niece Cahjinawl? Already Varus was in a bad place with having his own people attack his family. And what if Varus did NOT go through with it? Then the solution would be to purge the people they couldn't save.

Visas looked over Varus through her Force sight. He looked awful. Despite how right Rebhorn was, he was no less forcing the heir to choose between his people, his family, and his love, publically.

* * *

Daughter and Ahsoka entered a confined area of her garden once more. Daughter had in mind what she would teach, and it was simple enough, if only to get her to understand the depth of it and how to reach it. It was a lesson that was easy to learn but hard to master. In every way, the Jedi were close. They were so very close, but they were too pacifist to recognize it the lethal characteristics of the Light itself. They relied on the Dark Side elements to supplement their Light Side hearts, and they didn't even realize it. The Jedi were simply confused…

"Again, I want you to understand… there is no direct power in the Light." Daughter explained. "But there is… something."

She reached up and snapped off a branch of a tree. She snapped off the leaves and smaller branches until her stick was smooth. She did the same with a second one and tossed it to Ahsoka. Ahsoka caught it.

"The way the Dark Side works is to draw the Force into their bodies, twist it, tame it, and unleash it back out the same way a gun fires a laser bolt. The Light cannot do this, but that doesn't mean I am defenseless." Daughter closed her eyes and waved to Ahsoka. "Come at me. I will not fight back."

Ahsoka complied and tried to hit Daughter, but she twisted around, blocked attacks, and surprised Ahsoka with her skill. Ahsoka considered herself a skilled Jedi Knight. She had trained daily with Varus, who was amongst the most powerful she knew. It was hard to rank power and skills in people these days, but Varus had specialized in killing Masters at one time, so he was among the top ten in the galaxy, in her mind.

Daughter's skill and movements completely confounded her. It was not that she flowed necessarily, but her movements were simple. She evaded by the skin of her teeth, blocked, and finally disarmed Ahsoka with a movement so simple yet complex that it left her wondering what had happened.

Daughter opened her eyes. Ahsoka smiled, "I had no idea you could fight like that."

"I can't." Daughter replied simply.

Ahsoka looked at her in confusion. "But, you just-"

"I was not relying on my own instinct at all."

"So you were relying on the Force to guide your instincts, but that doesn't mean-"

"Again, I was not using my instincts. The Force was not guiding my instincts, as I wasn't using them." Daughter placed her branch on the ground, it had been horribly bent in some places from having hit so hard. "You are close in your Jedi-like theory, but it is still too self-reliant to be truly Light."

Daughter continued, "So, Ahsoka. What is the Force?"

"The universe? An energy field surrounding all living things? Midiclorians?"

Daughter smirked, "Okay, so perhaps there are many answers. Let me say the more specific one for this. Energy does not die, it is passed on from one atom to another. When a person dies, their consciousness follows their leaving energy into the universe, and so the Force was born. The Force is the collective consciousness of all that have been."

"This I know." Ahsoka nodded.

"This includes their memories, their personality… and their experience and instinct. So when I say I wasn't relying on my instinct, it is because I was letting the Force's instinct completely override my own."

Ahsoka frowned. "That sounds like what I already know…"

"That is only because you don't see how deep it is I am talking. What you Jedi refer to as 'reliance' is only the shallows. What I am referring to is to completely drown yourself in the Force's flow. The slightest resistance, even unconciously, will disrupt it, but if you fight with the instinct of thousands of skilled warriors, then you will always fight better than yourself at your prime."

Daughter produced another pair of branches and threw one to Ahsoka. "You must completely drown yourself in the Force, yet not lose yourself to it. It is dangerous, as I've said the Force is so great it will take everything away from you if you let it… you need a lifeline of sorts to keep from becoming empty."

Ahsoka gulped.

"Remember, how powerful this trait of the Light is, would be entirely dependent on how far you go into its depths."

"Got it."

"Then, let us begin."

They would spar many times. Daughter was generally a pacifist person with a clear disaste for violence and love for life and nature, but Ahsoka saw that when she let herself go, it was like seeing a completely different person. It felt like facing multiple master's in one body. Every move she did was brushed aside like she was a child, and Daughter exploited every weakness, including those Ahsoka didn't know could be ones.

She could see what Daughter was talking about. It was like she was fighting with the experience of thousands of veterans.

But then, perhaps only Daughter could do this. She was a woman born of the Light. If anyone could use this 'power', it would be her.

Ahsoka tried to keep up, but all of her skill meant nothing to her opponent.

Don't rely on your skill. Dive…

Ahsoka tried, and to her credit, she went back to her Jedi training easily. It was much like riding a bike. She had technically never stopped training as a Jedi, but something this basic had been outside of her training regime for a while.

Dive…

Now she just needed to focus on taking it deeper. If Daughter claimed that Jedi only relied on this 'Force-instinct' in a shallow manner, then if Ahsoka was to keep up with behemoths such as Varus, Anakin, Koj, Plagues, Son, Daughter, and Velkorion, then she would need to take a deep breathe… and dive.

Open herself to the Force, let herself go, let the Force's infinite experience and instincts decide what was best.

Ahsoka no longer mattered… There was only the For-

"STOP!" Ahsoka found herself on the ground. She blinked and took a moment to realize what happened. Daughter had slapped her.

"Wha?"

"If you had gone any deeper, you would have died." Daughter said apologetically. "It is good that you picked up on it so quickly, but Ahsoka… this is the point your Jedi feared. Jedi have no attachment to the world, and so will leave it if you go any deeper…"

"But, isn't this what I am working towards? What am I doing wrong?"

"It's not your fault… Ahsoka." Daughter sighed. "It's just… you need a lifeline if you are to go that deep."

Ahsoka chastised herself, and relented. So it seemed that Daughter was right. While 'diving' was a skill that was easy to pick up, it was hard to master. Without something to keep her tied to life, then she would only let go of her body and die. She would either have to stay in the shallows of what the Light could do… and find a kind of balance… as the Jedi have always done. Or find something more.

This was not a question of ethics or emotion, but one of attachment. Ahsoka had never considered that attachment alone could dictate her skill in battle.

"But is attachment really enough?" Ahsoka wondered. "I have a lover. I have a master that I consider like a father. I have a woman I consider to be almost a mother. I may not have as much attachments as others, but I do have them. Far more than the Jedi would have allowed me. Yet, despite this, I would have died if you hadn't stopped me."

Daughter nodded. "Attachment… its not enough. You would need something that can pierce the Force itself to reach you no matter how far down you go." She looked up to the sun. "But that is enough for now. We have been at this all day. It may not feel like it, but that last sparring session lasted seven hours."


	5. Ep01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 4

**Note: I OWN NOTHING!**

* * *

 **Episode 1 - In the Path of Keepers Part 4**

* * *

A few days passed, and in it all I found no comfort in sleep. While I am awake I stare out the window to the lush green land all around me, and yet all I see is death. My people burn and lose themselves.

I find little comfort in sleep. A tube runs out of my arm because the doctors have had to resort to sedation to get me to sleep. My problem is that I think. I think too much. If I just slowed down my thoughts, perhaps took mental breathes, meditated.

But then I remember.

My people are dieing. Rebhorn claims it is the lack of the Network that is killing our people, but I know better. The Network's death has isolated my people, but even that is not what is driving them to insanity. It is what is all around them…

My people think they are alone. They are not. The fear, the pain of Nihilus is what waits for them in the darkness of their eyeless world.

A fear I was supposed to have killed long ago.

Now my people are dieing, my family had to flee, Ahsoka can't stand the sight of me, and my people seek to chain me as a sacrifice to tradition.

Become the Keeper. Save lives. Damn myself to a pointless existence. Betray Ahsoka one last time.

Do nothing. People die. I go free. Hopefully my friends and loved ones will consider me a person worth knowing still.

There is no proper choice.

The robot army Rebhorn has commissioned is nearly complete and ready to set out and clean the capital city.

The time is ticking.

I distantly hear a knock on the door, and Visas opens it to let in Rebhorn. "Ah, Rebhorn. I could smell you coming off the elevator." I say flatly. I try to put some kind of energy into my sarcasm and biting remark, but the best I can is just get the words out.

"Time is short, and matters are pressing, so I will skip the pleasantries." The man replies. "Have you come to a decision?"

Become Keeper.

Do nothing.

Save lives.

Leave them to their graves.

I become a prisoner in my own body.

I go free.

I betray in the literal sense.

I betray their moral expectations.

I grip the windowsill and struggle to regain concious through the migraine I have. The walls close in around me.

"Hello?" Rebhorn asks in growing irritation. "Are you adult enough to answer a damn question or are you going to be a child and ignore me?"

"You cannot just expect to put someone on the spot like this and expect an answer!" Visas snaps. "And what was that bullshit in the court!"

"I can and do expect that decisions be made when they need to be, esspecially when they are as easy as this one and are entirely within the expectations of what any royalty would have to deal with."

Shut up…

"It is every day work for a prince to decide the fate of his people?!"

"Yes, every decision made in politics has real life repercussions."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize genocide and extinction filed under 'every f******* day occurrence' for you! Why didn't you perhaps bring tea and a lounge chair for us to relax and watch the fireworks as THE CITY BURNS!"

Shut up!

"You will find that sarcasm does little against my argument… If all you will do is meet logic with such remarks, then I see no reason to bother with this conversation."

"Well how's this for logic: HE WASN'T RAISED TO BE A F****** PRINCE!"

"Yes, that is a fact I am growing increasingly aware of. Yet you will find options are limited."

"That's because your options suck!"

"These are not my options, but theirs. Every person down there has an option to be saved, and we just have to do it."

Visas laughed darkly. "So now you come in preaching salvation to all of us lowly peasents in the same set of days you-"

"I wish I hadn't been born a prince…" I mutter. The others turns to me, but I continue. "Don't mistake me for suicidal. I'm glad to be alive and I want to live… but I wish I hadn't been born of a special bloodline." I chuckle. My chuckle builds into a dark laughter. "Ironic then isnt it! If I had been born a simple Miraluka, I would be insane as the rest! My salvation from that fate is just damnation to another!"

"That is the same burden all royalty share." Rebhorn says. "But, if I were to consider your thoughts… are you afraid of betraying that alien of yours?"

Ahsoka. Hearing him hit so close to home catches me off guard, and I flinch. He nods. "I considered so. You do realize that the relationship of a Chosen to the Keeper is not exclusive? We are an endangered species, as well."

"Where are you going with that?"

"You are free to take her." He motions to Visas, who gapes at him. "And also your alien."

My alien. I'm sorry, but hearing that phrase sets my blood on fire.

"You expect me to be a polygamy?" I raise an eyebrow.

Visas turns her head between us in shock. "Men! I swear! Can you not think outside of your pants for one minute?!"

"Hey! I'm not on his side!" I point at Rebhorn defensively.

"That doesn't matter, you're a guy!"

Rebhorn massages his temples. That's about the closest a Miraluka can get to rolling his eyes. "Look. There are other options. We can go for your brother."

"No."

"We can go for your clone brothers."

"You are not touching them."

"Or we can go for you and Visas." He finishes.

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Visas asks.

"No." I answer.

"What?!"

"Not 'no' you! 'No' him!" I point from her to him. "I mean… No Ribs! I mean… dangit! The option of Visas and I are not on the table!"

"Then you leave us no choice but to purge them." Rebhorn replies.

"What about just leaving! Let them have Forge! Maybe this bit of insanity will pass!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THAT DUMB?! If that was an option, it was one that was thoroughly exercised and disproved the last several weeks!"

"There are other options you numbskulls aren't considering…" Visas said.

"Yeah, why don't YOU be keeper!" I yell at Ribs.

Both of them fall silent. Oh, did I come up with something you didn't BIGSHOT!

"That's… not what I was thinking…" Visas says slowly.

"You really are that dumb."

You know, I am really getting tired of being called dumb.

"What about Ahsoka?" Visas asks.

"What about her?" I wonder. Rebhorn raises an eyebrow.

"She has proven to be a largely stable individual and has a strong mental foundation."

"Wait, wait, wait." I put a hand up to stop her. "Don't you have a rivalry? You know… because she and I are together yet you have this whole birthright 'Chosen' thing? Are you seriously suggesting what I think you are?"

"Personal jealousy aside, I challenged her to prove herself. From my observations, she has met all criteria except one: The need to be a more skilled fighter than the Keeper."

Rebhorn argues, "That is an important one. The Keeper must be protected at all cost."

"B****, please. Varus ranks in the top five Force-users in the known galaxy, and possibly the only non-Force user that can possibly pose a threat is HK-47." Visas replied. "The rest are all close friends or family."

Really? Top five? Nice to think my skills and near-death training are being recognized. But that does make me wonder…

Plageus, Son, and Nihilus have to be in the top three. No way they are not. Which leaves me, Tree-Hugger, Visas, and Koj as possible candidates, in addition to whatever Sith Lords and Jedi Masters are still hiding around. All the Starkiller clones are dead.

I could see Koj and Visas going toe-in-toe. Koj is stronger but Visas is more agile, experienced, and wouldn't let herself get caught. And I know I can beat both Koj and Visas…

Who does she think is better than me, or that I am barely better than? Tree-Hugger?

I've gotta challenge him to a spar just to kick his ass and prove I'm #4 at least.

Visas continues, "The only variable here is the Sith we will be at war with once the galaxy gets it's act together, and that variable is one we CANNOT account for no matter who we stick with him. Varus does not need physical protection. He needs emotional guidance and stability. His one true flaw. Surely you have noticed he has been visiting the hospital to receive blood donations?"

Rebhorn raised both eyebrows this time, clearly surprised. "The bleeding is that bad?"

"The more often it occurs, the thinner it becomes. The thinner it becomes, the more bleeding there is each time. Simple logic."

Rebhorn says nothing for a moment, and I have the feeling he really doesn't like the idea. But I have to throw a wrench in the idea first. "Uh, Visas. Problem. Ahsoka hates my guts right now."

"Not to mention, its simply a bad idea." Rebhorn adds.

"Hey!" I bark defensively. Ahsoka hates me, but I still don't like her being talked about like a bad idea… which… it kind of is. She would never agree to something like this so suddenly, esspecially after I hurt her so badly. Err…

Bad idea but I don't like it being declared as one because… reasons! Screw it, I don't know!

Rebhorn continues unabated, "She is an outsider. The council will not accept it. We tend to our own with our own. We don't need… an alien." He practically snarls the phrase out.

'An alien.'! Okay, now I'm angry! To her credit, Visas appears livid as well. "Don't you think that ideal is what got us where we are?! Are you both really that dumb?!"

Hey! What'd I do?

"You will find what got us where we are was trust in the wrong places… Namely an outsider." Rebhorn says, obviously referring to my trust of Leland.

Before we continue on bickering, Rebhorn's datapad dings. He doesn't move at first, we just 'stare' at each other in heightened emotions. I want to ring his neck and Visas looks like she is about to punch me in the face while kicking Ribs in the crotch.

He just lets it ring. After several rings he sighs, "If you will excuse me."

I give him a finger.

He steps aside. "Yeah, what!... They are- Are you serious?..." He seethes and I can see the veins in his forehead. "When?... Damnit! How many are holding?"

I look to Visas in confusion and she shrugs.

"I understand. Send word to the Seekers to ready up. Reinforcements are on their way." He hangs up.

I smile and pat him on the shoulder. "Nice talk, lets have it again sometime… never. Where you sending me?"

There is nothing like bickering with a jackass to get me back into my old self, for however long it lasts.

He sighs again, and brushes my hand aside. "The void-using Lost have captured a ship and flew it into our prison ship…"

Visas sucks in her breathe. I feel a chill going down my spine.

"The head of this particular Lost group is a woman, the only one identified with void-powers." He says. "You know what that means?"

Possibly the one that destroyed the village back there.

"The Seekers are gathering in hanger 12. Go. Kill the invaders."

"You got it." I walk past and bump shoulders with him on purpose.

As I walk to the hanger, I feel myself returning. My training. My focus. All concern and worry is put aside under a clear violent objective. I have a target.

Its… freeing.

* * *

I sit in the back of the shuttle. The Seekers all around the transport ready themselves for battle. Blasters are checked and rechecked. Lightsabers are ignited and placed back on their belt.

I do not have lightsabers, not since I lost them in my fight to Starkiller. One would say it was dumb bravado to fight him without the weapons, but it was a message. I was going to fight him myself, with my own power, with my own talents and my own skill and strength. I would not even rely on lightsabers.

Kinda weird of a statement to be making. I could use a replacement. I unstrap my belt and step aside to the crate for weapons and ammunition. I pick two lightsabers at random, they ignite as both yellow, and place them on my belt.

Visas walks from person to person handing them a necklace. They all look the same. She presents one to me. "What's this?" I ask.

"Outsiders know who is friendly by visual cues, we are Miraluka."

Right. Color means nothing.

"So kill anyone not wearing this necklace?"

"Only if they come after you. There are innocents."

"Naturally." I put the necklace around my neck and take the seat.

Before long, we land, and the Seekers run out. I follow them out and step into the hanger. It's a small hanger, barely large enough for two ships. Behind the desk is a body. I lean down and check his pulse. Dead. "Visas, you guys retake the ship."

"What about you?"

"I'm going after the one in charge. I work best alone."

Before she can complain, I run off down a separate path. I don't know where the leader is, but it won't be hard to figure out. It's as simple as following the trail of bad guys or sensing the largest Force signature. The leaders use void-powers, so that shouldn't be hard to find.

I mostly come across bodies for a while. Some are dead from being torn apart, while others are shot, cut down, or prematurely aged. However it doesn't take long before I come across the invaders. In their insanity they have resorted to cannibalism.

I don't engage them outright, rather, I walk by them. "Hey guys, how's your health plan?"

They come at me. Damn, some people just can't take a hint. "Apparently, it's great!" I ignite my lightsabers and cut them down.

I've never ridden a bike, but I've heard its something you never forget. In the same way, going through a fortress cutting everything down in my way is something I can get into easily. I go through the halls and corridors with all the power of a Force wrecking ball. Anything that comes at me dies or is blown aside or electrocuted. Anything that falls under the death category.

I feel void energy and come to a halt. Dangit, I took a few too many right turns. I turn around and head back.

"Great…" Of all places they choose to go, its here.

I enter the major prison containment cell by tearing the door down. Inside are three woman… and Leland.

Or at least it was Leland. Leland had been chained to the wall and put in a strap-coat. Now he's a corpse.

I can't say I care. Irony is he started all this. However I will say I am surprised. I half expected these people to free him so he could lead them. Didn't think they would come here just to consume him.

I spin my lightsabers in my hands. "You know, irony is something I appreciate, and there is nothing more ironic than this. This started with Leland and now it ends with Leland."

Two guys and a woman. The void practically radiates from their skin. The woman is kneeling over Leland's corpse and the men come at me snarling. Bolts of lightning makes short order of them.

Sad… kind of expected better.

The woman, though, she straightens and looks at me.

"So you came, but you are far too late." The woman says.

"… What?" I ask. Too late for what? Them killing my bastard of a brother who started this? Sorry, I'm not crying. I'm sad about his life choices, sure, but I think this is ironic justice at its greatest.

"You see… everyone else is already dead!" The woman snarls.

"Mhmm."

"Yet I am still hungry! Why is there never enough!"

"Neat." Okay, she is getting boring. "Sorry, but I have a question. You been to a village to the north? Twenty houses, mostly wood, nice folks. Ring a bell?"

"So hungry…" The woman mutters. "I will not be alone ever again! I'm going to consume all of you! "

"Oh? You see that would be intimidating, if you were…" I chuckle. "Well, intimidating."

"Are you mocking me?!"

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no… pft! yeah, I am. You think if I stab you candy will come out?"

"I'll eat you!"

"Sorry, I already have a girlfriend." I send a bolt of lightning at her and she aborbs it into the void.

Okay, so she is at least reasonably self-taught.

* * *

Operation Blind Ferret was a go.

Visas signaled the two squads to take turns going down the hall. Three of them were snipers, and the other five used a combination of lightsabers and assault rifles. Despite what is thought of Force-users, Miraluka do use armor. The biggest difference is that the helmets lack a visual screen. They have no need for such. They were not as heavily armored as the legendary Mandalorians, but rather were less burdened by heavy plating to maximize dexterity and the use of lightsabers in defense. Visas was the only one not wearing a helmet. They made her feel claustrophobic. She still however wore the ear-mic inserted into their private channel.

Squad Marriet crouched by a door and paused. "I sense nothing."

"Moving." The next squad leader declared. Squad Horrison ran by to the next door, the sniper hanging back with Visas. Visas kept up their rear.

"Two bodies, no pulse, both former prisoners." Horrison declared. "There is a door opposite the room. Requesting permission to investigate."

Visas recalled the layout of the overall vessel. While the internal layout of the fleet's ships were constantly being modified to keep up to date with an increasingly dense population, some vessels were rarely changed. This would be one of them.

"Go ahead, but be careful. Marriet, stay here and keep their back." Visas ordered.

Both squads moved as ordered. Horrison squad kicked open the door and ran to the opposite side to check the opposing avenue while Marriet hunkered down in the hall with Visas.

Visas could only sense so far, and that was annoying. Private apartments were built with a layer of material designed to block Force-sight and allow privacy. The prison sector of the ship was reported to not have any of that material, so she would be able to see all of it once she entered its premises, but for now she would have to make do with them moving one room at a time. She had hoped to find survivors in the residential sector, but thus far no luck. The invaders had been swift, thurough, and merciless.

She intended to be the same when she found them, if Varus didn't beat her to it.

"Door leads to a second hall leading back." Horrison reported.

"We will continue on the hall we are already investigating. No need to loop back. This one will lead us to the prison sector soon, hopefully we will find the survivors had held out there." Visas replied. "Marriet, lead on."

Marriet moved down the hall to the next set of rooms to peer into while Horrison regrouped. One room after another they investigated, and no luck.

"Will Keeper Varus be okay on his own, Chosen?"

"He will be fine." Visas answered. "Invading a place and going after an object while cutting down anything in his path is a walk in the park. Be more worried about whether or not he leaves anything for the rest of us."

The squads chuckled despite the anticipation of battle. It was something soldiers got used to. If you didn't laugh, the pressure would get to you.

Truth be told, though, Visas couldn't help but worry. Varus was not at his peak mentally or physically these days. He was pushed to the limits of what he could handle in terms of stress, and something like that takes a toll on anyone. All the same, she didn't argue with him going off alone because this mission would be a great stress reliever for him.

They took a turn and before long found themselves before the double-layered blast-proof doors to the prison sector. They were open. Visas allowed her senses to flood the room and in a moment she saw everything.

Visas reported, "The survivors are held up in the command center. They look like they can handle themselves, but it is best not to take our chances. The Lost are practically everywhere, but only twenty of them have the mental capacity to still use weapons. Horrison, lead the snipers out and cover them. Marriet, stay here and prepare. The snipers will take out as many of the 'special' ones as possible in a short time window, run back to this point as we get their attention. Then we hold up here and turn this small passage into a meat grinder."

"What a time to not have physical projectiles." Someone complained. "Why was the manufactoring of guns that use physical projectiles banned again?"

"Considered too barbaric, and it was probably the energy warfare companies that pushed the ban just to get themselves on the market." Another replied.

"Cut the chatter." Visas ordered. "Move."

Marriet hunkered down in the hall as Horrison, Visas, and the snipers ran out. There were railings and obstacles to hide behind just within the room. The Lost were everywhere, but the ones with some intelligence remaining had placed themselves on the second floor (the same floor as the command center for the prison sector) and were sieging it. The second floor was wide open, lacking any major barricade from the rest of the room. Such a thing would have been a security risk anyway.

"Marriet 1-C, ready."

"Horrison 2-B, shot lined up."

"I'm ready too."

"Check to be sure you aren't sharing targets." Visas ordered from where she hid. "We want to maximize damage." three confirmations were made. "Fire." Three sniper rounds flew through the air and met their targets. Two were down instantly while the third had moved. The third suffered a fatal wound, but wouldn't die instantly.

Lasers also had a tendency to leave a visual trail no matter how silent the guns were, but this worked to their advantage. Miraluka can't see the trail. There was confusion among the Lost, but they still had a short time-window for another round.

"Line up shots." Visas ordered. Three confirmations. "Make sure you aren't sharing targets." Again, confirmed. "Fire." These three went more smoothly than before, and by now some of the Lost had caught sight of them and were more than a little upset.

"Back!" Visas ordered. The snipers packed up and left while Horrison opened fire on the approaching Lost. They all backpedaled to the hall, and Horrison hunkered down just as Marriet was.

"Damn, you guys got first dibs." Marriet complained.

"That's fine, now we all share the best part."

Visas wasn't sure what was about to happen classified as the best part.

The yelling grew increasingly loud and erratic as the horde came closer, and before long the door was flooded with them. Everything opened fire as rapidly as it could be triggered. Sniper rounds, pistols, assault rifles, anything that could fire at this point. The Lost were trying to shove about seventy people into a three-person opening. You literally could not miss if you tried.

A problem soon arose that made Visas wish they did have physical projectiles. Laser bolts tended to be absorbed by the first target, rather than shred them and continue on. Even weaker bullets would physically tear the target apart enough to turn them to mincemeat and expose the target behind them. Lasers didn't. They managed to shoot down the first half before the horde converged on them, and Visas found herself in a melee of lasers, claws, teeth, and lightsabers.

From there it was a blur. She cut one down and didn't have time to think before another was on her. It was an insane moment of going from target to target. It only lasted ten seconds, but it felt like minutes.

When the coast was clear, she took a deep breath and looked around. They were okay. Two of them had been hurt in the scuffle, but nothing bad. The armor had protected them from most of the attacks. What could the Lost do when they used fingers and teeth? Sometimes they used hammers or wrenches, and those were to be watched out for, but the ones with some intelligence remaining could still use a gun.

Speaking of which… Visas had a room to finish clearing.

She had the squads entrench themselves at the door and open fire on the remaining Lost, in the meantime she shadow stepped to the second floor and flanked them, and the survivors in the command center were already firing out back at them. With the last of the invaders being attacked from three sides, it was child's play.

The rest was a blur to her. The survivors were glad to see them, obviously. Unfortunately there was no one else on the ship accounted for at the time. They didn't know where the ringleader of this whole thing was. It was fairly monotonous. Visas wasn't paying attention.

What drew her attention was a spike of Force-energy nearby. From what she could remember of the layout, that direction had the high security wing for the special prisoners. She recognized the feeling of Varus's power.

"Marriet, take the survivors back to the shuttle. Horrison, with me. We're going to rendezvous with Varus." She ordered.

What she found left her… temporarily stunned.

There were bodies everywhere. She recognized one as Leland (bastard had it coming). Varus was among bodies, laying face down. She rushed to his side and after turning him over, checked his vitals. His pulse was erratic, but he had no physical sign of injury. He was just unconcious… But something felt wrong. His heart was beating at a dangerous level.

"Someone get him something to calm him down!" She barked at the squad. From their medkit they pulled out a vial and gave him a mild sedative. His heartbeat calmed. Visas's attention was drawn to a weak laugh.

Some woman was leaning against the wall smirking darkly at them. She didn't recognize the woman, but judging from the mad look on her face, she wasn't friendly. She also had been deprived of both of her arms at the elbow. Looked fresh, the wounds still sizzled, yet she didn't flinch from the pain in the slightest. Definietely insane.

"I told him he was too late, now its too late!" The woman laughed.

Visas crossed the room, and lifted the woman up by the throat with the Force. She didn't want to touch the woman if she was who she thought she was. "What did you do?" Visas Marr snarled.

"Hehe, oh nothing much, I just touched him. That's all. Not like I did any-"

Visas dropped her at the same time as bringing her knee up. The resulting crunch of the woman's lower ribs breaking was darkly satisfying and soothing for the rage she felt. The woman fainted. "Take her with us. He needs medical attention."

At this rate Varus might as well have a permanent residence in the hospital.


	6. Ep01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 5

**Note: Not too much to say at the moment. I am however changing the name of the episode from "how things have become" to "In the Path of Keepers." As this is short enough.**

 **I made this fiction because, originally, it was going to be a giant prologue. However... its simply too big. So I decided to do a one-episode-giant fic as a go-between.**

 **And if this is going to have one giant episode, and the title of the season 2.5 is "In the Path of Keepers", then the title of each part might as well be that too eh?**

 **So I'm going back and renaming the chapters.**

 **Oh, and this chapter is abnormal. It is one giant long scene from a single perspective. Normally I try to have 3 separate scenes from at least 2 perspectives, but this has 1 person doing a LOT of stuff in a relatively short time, and so its worth its own chapter.**

* * *

 **Episode 1 - In the Path of Keepers Part 5**

* * *

If it were possible for a Miraluka to glare, then Admiral Rebhorn would be doing it. As glaring was physically impossible, he resorted to tapping his fingers loudly, to as to ensure there was no lack of doubt in his lack of patience. The unfortunate one to be at the end of his ire kept his back turned from the Admiral in an effort to keep from being pushed, but again, but the pulsing sound of tapping echoing through the hospital room only compounded the urgency of the moment.

"Well?" Rebhorn demanded. Though his interactions with Mrs. Marr had become toxic of late, they shared a moment of mutual understanding, and so she was just as impatient as him for the same reason. She merely chose to take it in absolute silence. Visas resolutely stood guard over Varus's bed.

The doctor sighed and slammed the notebook shut. "He has numerous scars, inside and out. There is evidence of everything from bite marks to fractures to burns to deep bone bruising to poisoning to having his organs pierced by metal and plasma. From what he has endured it is purely a wonder he has survived this long as it is… however if you want something for why he would be here, in a coma, then I see no injuries. There are no recent puncture wounds for needles, no insicions or cuts or burns or bruises."

"Toxicology report?"

"Not my expertise. You will have to wait for the computer to finish analyzing the samples."

Rebhorn returned to tapping. "Then perhaps you should go get it…" He forcibly suggested.

"I can't just rush thin-"

"Here is how this works." Rebhorn interrupted. He walked up to the man and put his face in his. "Varus is our people's last hope against resorting to genocide. If he dies, or for that matter, does not awaken in the next four hours, then I will hold you personally accountable for the million or so deaths we will endure tomorrow, and I will beat you within an inch of your life before having you court martialed for just about any reason I can think of, with the punishment being subjugated to a whole horde of Lost."

"You wouldn't."

"And I'll hold you down so he can." Visas added.

The doctor looked from one to the other, suddenly feeling pressured for his life. "You would… I… uh." He inched his way around Rebhorn. The much taller Admiral kept facing him. "I think I'll… go get the toxicology reports."

The doctor fled out the door.

Rebhorn snorted. He motioned to one of his escort. "Make sure he doesn't just leave. We need that report. If he needs help, than get every specialist and have them stop what they are doing. Right now there is nothing more pressing."

While making an unethical, and immoral statement as to pull doctors off of their patients would be considered criminal by much of the galaxy, the Miraluka functioned as an extreme example of a corporate group social culture. The whole mattered more than the individual, and sometimes sacrifices were necessary.

In the past such thoughts were easily influenced and attuned through intense empathy of the Network. In a large group, the individuals felt the need of the whole, knew their place within it, and acted accordingly to serve the whole.

"What happened, Mrs. Marr?" Rebhorn sighed. "How could this have happened…"

"All it took was a touch. To his credit, he was surrounded in the corpses of his victims… and like the doctor said: He has no wounds. He may have been touched by the woman, but he still removed her arms before falling himself."

Visas suspected the woman hadn't actually done any fighting but waited in the background for an opening to exploit.

And that was all it took.

Now Varus was seemingly in a coma. Efforts to awaken him thus far had failed, and he was unresponsive. And that wasn't even the most disturbing part.

His Force energy was pulsating.

For Miraluka, seeing the Force in someone was like they were glowing. On closer inspection, it looked like very tiny veins infesting every cell in their body. It was normal for a Force-user's energy to fluctuate with emotions or usage of the Force, but what Varus was going through was erratic. It was like watching his heartbeat fluttering.

Visas had never been so worried in her life. She had never seen it and she didn't know what to do.

"And what could just a touch have done!" Rebhorn exclaimed in frustration. "The woman was a Void-user, so she would have killed him by making him age a hundred years in a flash, but he looks as young as we have ever seen him!"

"I don't know…" Visas whispered. "I wish I knew, but that concerns me as well. It appears, on the surface, that Varus defended himself against the void-attack appropriately, yet he is in a coma and this Force fluctuation is disturbing."

"Could this be a different kind of void technique?"

Visas shook her head. "Nihilus is the Voidsmith and taught Varus and I. This woman is a scrub compared to us, and I know nothing within the void that would have results this… gentle. Almost everything I know is instantly lethal."

Left with questions that have no answer, they could only wait in silence for the doctor to return. Eventually he did.

"The toxicology report is up, and we can deduce it is not a poison or infection of any sort."

"Well, horray for small miracles." Visas muttered sarcastically.

"However, this here is worth noting. His hormones are dangerously offbalance. Testosterone, oxytocin, norepinephrine, and epinephrine are high, while serotonin, G.A.B.A., and dopamine are low."

"English, doctor." Rebhorn insisted.

"Basically while he is actively seeking a female, he has incredibly high stress, he is constantly in a panic, he has high blood pressure, he is impulsive, he is aggressive, he is anxious, he cannot rest, he is depressed. A few of those things would be enough to give someone a need for a short vacation, but all of it together is able to become greater than the sum of the whole and… stress kills people. It's like heat. Being too hot will cook the brain. If he lives through this he will need extensive therapy."

Visas flinched. She had seen the nose bleeds for some time, and knew he was stressed and at his limit without sleep, but the simple fact that stress is lethal was something she was not aware of.

"So wait…" Rebhorn rubbed his temples. "He passed out… from stress?"

Visas defended the doctor, "I don't think that would cause him to fall into this state, no. The woman touching him caused this. His hormonal imbalance is something to consider for the future. What do you suggest?"

"A hormonal therapy, and very simple. There are soaps with hormones built in to help get them back to proper levels. It can be as simple as showering regularly with them."

"That doesn't take away the prime problem that he is utterly unresponsive!" Rebhorn exclaimed.

Visas faced him, "There is nothing the doctors can do about it. If his sleep hormone is low, yet he is unconscious, then the problem isn't that. The problem lies within the Force, and dealing with the Force medically like this is beyond their skills. If we want answers, then we have to go to the woman directly that caused this or see Force-experts. Plageus and his children wou-"

"We. Will. Not. Rely. On. Outsiders." Rebhorn stated firmly. "It was relying on outsiders like Leland that caused this. We will not do so again."

'Only because we made Leland an outsider…' Visas thought.

"However, getting answers directly out of the b**** that did this to him should prove helpful." Rebhorn reluctantly agreed. "Let's go, doctor do what you can."

With that the admiral swept out of the room with Visas on his heels. He placed a call to the prison ship. The woman had been helpful enough to break into a prison, so she was kept there. The Miraluka had retaken the ship and were in the process of restoring it to proper order. "Visas Marr and I are on our way to see prisoner 087. Make sure security is tight and everything is prepared for us to question her… Yes, I'll hold." He turned his face towards Visas, "Would you like to do the talking or shall I?"

"I'll do it." Visas said. Her jaw clenched at the thought of that woman. She had a little girl back at home, the one Koj had left with her, who had lost her family because of this woman. This woman had destroyed villages and lead a cult to ravage thousands. She had attacked the Miraluka in orbit, and possibly was killing Varus even as they strived to stop it.

She had a lot to say to the woman.

"I also heard through a rumor of how you gave her a piece of your mind once before." Rebhorn mentioned, off handledly. "I approve."

"I don't need your approval, and I would do it again."

"Mind if I watch this time?" He smirked.

"Not at all. Only if you pay me with five minutes just between me and her." She shared an evil smile.

"I'm sure we can come to an arrangement." He agreed. He tapped his ear again, "Yes, I'm still here. I-." he came to a halt, and his face was ashen. Visas stopped as well. She watched as he became rigid and gaped. If she could see color he would have been very pale. All at once it turned into fury so fierce he was gnashing his teeth. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE IS DEAD?!"

Visas gasped.

She was very much dead.

The trip to the cell had been a blur where they had rushed to arrive as quickly as possible. The Admiral had demanded medics and doctors and security from all over to get to the woman, but from what Visas could see, it was far too late. The stunning thing was not even that she was dead… it was how.

The void-touched woman looked like a 90-year old corpse.

"Ironic…" Rebhorn muttered darkly. "This b**** is killed the same way she killed others… Did anyone enter her cell?"

"No sir." A guard said.

"No one touched her, no one watched her, no one saw anything?"

"No sir. I have been standing here all day. Not a sound. Food was brought, but…" The food was left untouched.

"We can't say when it happened precisely." Visas commented. "The aging factor screws up the timetable to know a time of death. It could have been just now, it could have been hours ago."

Rebhorn placed a call. "Doctor, any improvement on Varus?... Well, I don't know! Try something. Slap him… … slap him again… … Thank you." He hung up. "Nothing. The woman dieing hasn't fixed anything."

Visas scrunched her eyebrows. That didn't make any sense. "Her death should have. She created a force bond, and those things are severed by death… this makes no sense!" Visas growled. She put her head in her hands. She was getting a headache. "The void does not kill through aging without a connection being made to suck the life out of something! That is the nature of Nihilus! That is the nature of the void power that does this! You can't suck life out of something without a connection being made! Vampires need teeth, siphons need needles, the void needs a needle of its own. Death destroys that needle. If the connection is gone, and the drain on Varus is gone, then he should be fine."

"Unless those teeth leave behind venom." Rebhorn pondered.

Visas shook her head. "Not the nature of void. Void sucks life to survive. Even one second without sustenance will kill it. If there is such thing as a poison of void, then it would burn out instantly or kill fast enough for us to notice."

"Then can we be sure she even established a connection? Perhaps she just died on her own."

That was a thought Visas shared, but it also didn't make sense.

In the back of her mind, information was clicking around. She felt she knew the answer. She had the clues, but she couldn't put it into proper order yet.

"No… she did. She wouldn't die on her own because she isn't Nihilus exactly."

But then… if she had established a connection with Varus, why did the woman die and Varus ONLY end up in a coma?

…

"Rebhorn, check with the doctor… does Varus's Force-energy look LARGER than usual?" Visas asked.

Rebhorn complied, not sure what she was thinking, but willing to go with it to see where it would go. "No."

So if the life-force of the woman did not go to Varus… where did it go? Varus was the first person the woman's touch had yet to kill…

Just like…

A thought struck Visas. A wild thought that left her shaken inside and out. It very might have shattered her world if it wasn't a thought that was predictable.

"I need to see Varus! Now!" Visas stormed out as quick as she could go, and this time didn't bother waiting for the Admiral. She flew back to the mothership, jumped out, and ran back to him. She fell by his side and looked. She looked at him. She looked closer than she had ever looked before in her life. She looked at him, inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter. Not one detail of his body and how the Force flowed through his cells, went beyond her notice. She looked so closely she felt she would go blind. Force-users appear bright due to the amount of force-energy they have, and Varus was like a sun he always shone so brightly. Nihilus' training had been brutal in the extreme but left him strong, stronger than any known Jedi Master.

She sat by him for an hour. Rebhorn caught up to her long ago, panting and sweating, and had tried to get her attention, but Visas' focus would not be aleviated. She had to be sure of what she expected. She, at one point, had her face right up to his without realizing it, she was peering so closely.

Then she found it, and her world shook. "THAT LIEING BASTARD!" Visas roared.

Her abrubt exclamation made the other people in the room jump. "Where's Rebhorn!" She demanded.

"H-he returned to his quarters. There are other matters pressing and-"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." She waved the guard off. Rebhorn had too much depending on him for him to put all of his time on Varus. Exactly what she needed. He would never agree to this…

She shadow-stepped to the other side of the guard and put him in a clench. He struggled, but she was firm. "Relax, I just need you unconcious. I promise I will be gentle. Nothing personal, just need-" The man fell limp. "To make sure this stays quiet." She placed the guard in a relaxed position. She would apologize later. Maybe buy him lunch or something, maybe take his virginity, who knows. Would he be happy with a thousand credits and her owing him a favor?

She pulled a stretcher in, placed Varus on, and pushed him out of the hospital. She found it difficult to balance urgency with not causing a scene and also not throwing him off the floating cart. If she didn't have to balance it, she would just hold him to her chest and run so fast he would be flapping in the wind.

She found herself having to fly at a rapid speed yet again today. She strapped his body to a fold-out bed and left without giving command an explanation. Predictably, they tried closing the doors a little late. "Sorry, boys! I'll explain later!"

There was something she needed to see.

She flew to the northern sun temple and found a small gathering of insectoids flying around the temple. She landed and saw a group heading her way. She lowered the hatch for them and turned to find Koj enter the ship. "Hello, Mrs Marr. I-" His eyes widened dramatically at the sight of Varus. "What happened?!"

"No time. Help me get him on the thing here." She unstrapped his shoulders and the man followed her by unstrapping his waist. Koj took one of the man's legs, she grabbed him under the shoulders, and on the count of three they put him on the hoverdisc. She strapped him back in. "I need to see Skywalker, his son, Plagues, and his children, and Ahsoka, in that order!"

Koj didn't let go of Varus's cart, clearly torn being going and staying. "Go!" She barked. He bolted.

She followed him out, pushing Varus. She would have run off herself and just left him to Varus, but he would know where these people are. She wouldn't.

The temple looked like a small battle had occurred. There was a pile of bodies in the distance being burned. The people to occupy the temple now were all armed. There were no more than ten Miraluka, two Ghorfa, and what could have been easily a hundred flying insect-humanoids within the temple itself. There were another hundered insects flying outside patrolling. The Miraluka were hovering over some communication equipment and appeared to be establishing a connection with the fleet. It was among these that Koj returned from with Skywalker in tow.

Skywalker took one look at Varus, and Visas knew what he would be asking, "No time to explain. I need to look at your body."

"… Uh, what?" He blinked in surprise.

Men…

"Shut up." She grabbed him by the collar and shoved him towards a spot where he could sit. "Koj, take Varus back through the portal and make sure he is rested. Skywalker, sit. Don't move." She shoved him down.

Skywalker looked between Visas, Varus, and Koj, who also stood there dumbfounded. They both understood this was urgent, but her requests were… well… to put it simply. They were abrubt and odd. About as much as she was anyway. He nodded anyway. While Visas was naturally abrubt and odd, she had purpose. Koj nodded back and took Varus.

Skywalker contented himself with sitting there with Visas sitting on her heels peering at him. After about a minute, he gulped. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Shut up. Don't talk. Don't move. Not even a finger."

"How long do you expect me to do that?"

"About an hour should do it." She jumped off her heels and go a little closer until her face was literally in his chest. If it wasn't for the fact she was blind, it would be like she found his shirt or smell the most fascinating thing in the world. He couldn't help but lean back out of reflex, and she responded by grabbing him by the sides with her long, sharp fingernails and pulling him back straight.

'Great…' He thought sarcastically.

He forced himself to sit straight as best he could. She grumbled a bit, because, unfortunately, he couldn't help but fidget. He was very uncomfortable with her all but straddling him looking at every inch of his body. She was completely in his personal space. She got close enough to his nose to kiss him, had her face in his hair, and was breathing down his neck. She held his arms out to look at, until it became metal and she moved down to his armpit, down his sides, to his-

"Not there!" He pushed her away with his feet.

"I need to see everything…"

"Yeaaaaaaaaaah, no. That's not happening."

She sighed. "If you must know, I already see you naked. Miraluka sometimes don't see clothes at all."

That only resulted in him being VERY uncomfortable and closing his legs and looking back and forth between her and the group of Miraluka in the distance. "I… I, well-"

"Oh, my gawd…" she groaned. She grabbed his legs in a vice and stretched them back out. He thought about forcing her away again and resisting, preferably by kicking her, but she had her attention on the leg and not… anything else of importance. So he let her. Besides, she had his leg in a painful grip with her fingernails.

She stood up. "Okay, I can't say I was completely thorough, since you find it uncomfortable."

"Yes, thank you." He stood up and backed away, a good long step away. "Let's not do that again. Ever."

She continued, "But I found what I was looking for." She frowned. "I need to see your son now."

"You are not looking at his… boyhood!"

"Fine, fine." She agreed as she walked.

"Care to explain WHY you had me sit for an hour and all but grope every inch of my body with your face?"

"Not yet, I need to be sure."

They entered the portal to the home of Plageus, and Koj had already brought Luke to the lobby room. Visas looked around and saw Varus laying in a nice bed on another floor with Ahsoka sitting on the bed with him reading a book. The sight was a pleasant one. It told Visas that whatever problems the two had, Ahsoka would be there for him and wasn't just wasting away in worry by chewing her fingernails and being a mess. Also Varus was in good hands.

Visas was more gentle on Luke, understandably he was a child and had been possessed by Nihilus. She felt deep sympathy for him. She had experienced brutal torture for years under the Sith Lord, and possession was the one thing that most horrified her and was the one thing he had not done. He had never said it, but being possessed by him was an ongoing threat every day while there.

She was finished with him within half an hour. He was small.

Visas asked Skywalker, "Does your son have any force-bonds with anyone?"

He nodded. "Myself and his little sister, Leia."

"How about you?"

"Mostly with my kids. I did at one point have one with Ahsoka and Varus, and my old Jedi Master, but it has waned in time with missuse. We have not felt the need to recreate it with us not being a complete team since."

Visas nodded. She didn't care why, but it was an important detail to note. "And… how about Varus? Any force-bonds?"

At this, Anakin was a silent for a moment. "He… I don't know. Its not something he was ever comfortable with discussing. We did as a team once. He had a connection with me, and through me he had a one with Ahsoka. Since then, he might have naturally developed one with Ahsoka, but so far as I know it was severed lately… or at the very least he was planning to. I don't know if he went through with it or not."

Visas grumbled and considered it. It was very unprecise, and unless they could awaken Varus to get a precise answer, then they would have to deal with a bunch of unknowns on his part. Skywalker narrowed his eyes at her. Padme, who had been present as Visas analyzed Luke, looked concerned.

"Why all these questions?" Skywalker asked. "Why peer so much at me and my son? Why is Varus in ANOTHER bed unconcious, again? I swear, I can't count the number of times he has gotten himself hurt."

"I wish I had a proper answer…" Visas stated. "But, not yet. I need to do one more thing." She sat down crosslegged. "I must look at myself. Give me about an hour."

Visas meditated. She peered into herself. She had done this many a time over the years. Being able to see inside your own body is a fascinating thing, and while she was uncomfortable with emotions, she could not be uncomfortable with her body when she could see it down to the shape of her heart and see the blood pumping around her stomach lining. Every muscle, every veins, every organ was open to her.

Not that this was how she saw herself all the time. It would hardly be a good idea to eat breakfast while looking at your intestines, but it was a common amusement for children to eat something and watch it going down in the most literal of senses. It was amusing to walk out and see how the heartbeats of boys around her beat faster.

After about an hour, she was done, and she considered her findings. In the end, she could only come to one conclusion: "That. Lying. Bastard."

She found them at dinner. Her stomach growled and she complied with a respectful bow when a seat was presented. She had spent the last several hours just looking at people, and the hours before that running around and worrying, and then the hours before that fighting a physical and politicial battle. She had not eaten today. She felt as fatigued as she could be.

The only one not at dinner was Ahsoka and Varus. Ahsoka had her food brought up to her and Varus could not eat anything. Koj declared if he was still asleep by the next day, they would be pumping food into his stomach directly. He had gone enough days without eating as it was. Visas handed Skywalker the toxicology report as well. It took some explanation, but it was agreed they would be discussing therapy with the man when he awoke. Skywalker had the summary passed up to Ahsoka as well, so she would understand the whole hormonal imbalance issue as well.

"Certainly explains a lot about him." Koj said.

"I never thought to check whether he had a hormone imbalance, back when he was my padawan." Skywalker mused as he ate. "I just figured his attitude was a rebellious, smart-mouth skit of a teenager."

"That's normal." Padme said. "But even if he did have an imbalance, you can't fix a guy by messing with his hormones. What hormones you develop is decided by your thoughts and beliefs just as much as the hormones develop those even further."

"You make it sound as if a single thought can send us down a long train of development where that thought only becomes a deeper part of us." Koj said.

"A single thought does." Padme replied. "Which is what makes parents so important in your adolescents. You can change your thoughts, but it means fighting your own hormones possibly. Why do you think it is so hard for people to change?"

"You know your sexy when you talk science?" Skywalker asked with a mouthful of food.

Visas groaned. It was so tempting to reply with a statement of where she had her face with him earlier. That would have caused all kinds of chaos and fun. But no, she needed to be on very good terms… for the moment. She could cause marital problems, fights, and possibly divorce later. (Hopefully not, but she expected to put him in an awkward position for kicks.)

When the meal was largely over, Visas expected they would insist on her giving a proper explanation for her behavior. But she had one last piece of information to get. "Girl, what's your name?"

"Leia." The girl replied.

Ah, yes. Leia. Visas had been told once, but forgot. "Tell me, you have a Force-bond with your twin brother, right?" Padme and Anakin eyed Visas, wondering where she was going with this.

"Yeah."

"And what could you do with it in the past? Could you hear his thoughts?"

"Yeah."

"As empty words or did they have expression to them?"

"Expect-what?"

Visas paused. "Did he sound like a robot in your mind?"

"No, he sounded like himself."

"Did you feel his emotions as if they were your own?"

"Yeah."

"And he felt yours the same way?"

"Yeah."

Visas tapped the table in thought. So, the girl had a very deep connection with her twin? That was important.

On Miraluka terms, it was the equivalence to marriage. It was considered a level four bond. A level 1 involved neither thought nor emotion. A level 2 involved words without expression or emotion. A level 3 involved thought with expression, and some emotion. A level 4 bond was truly intimate and both ways. Level 4 was reserved for special cases and was commonly found in twins. A level 1 was very common, as it went without being noticed most of the time. Jedi trained themselves to reach level 2 only, and the Miraluka network was, by nature, level 3 on a large scale.

"And do you still have the bond?" Visas asked. She watched the girl closely. This was very important.

Leia nodded meekly.

Visas was afraid of that. It fit. "And what do you feel through it? Do you still sense his thoughts and emotions as before?"

"I don't hear his thoughts, but… he feels…" Leia gulped and started to tear up. "He…"

"It's okay honey." Padme stopped her, and Anakin said it was enough.

"No. This is important." Visas insisted. "Leia, what do you sense? Do you feel you are being pulled through it? Do you feel fatigued?"

"That's enough, Mrs. Marr." Padme demanded.

However, Leia said, 'yes' before bursting into tears.

Visas found herself being glared at by two parents, but couldn't be bothered to care. With just the little girl saying that, she felt all the pieces fall into place, and what she saw was horrifying. She wasn't scared, necessarily, but it was bad. It was the worst case scenario type where she was left exhausted just by knowing it.

Visas silently rose, put her seat back under the table, and left. She made her way to Varus and Ahsoka. For once, her focus was on Ahsoka rather than her Keeper. "You win. "

"Wha?" Ahsoka narrowed her eyes in confusion and closed her book.

"He needs our help, and I know who he would choose to do it. He is dying."

"What?!" Ahsoka didn't jump up, but she became poised to do it at a moment's notice instantly. "What do you mean dying!?"

"There was… a complication." Visas started to explain. "Without the Network, some of us have become so empty inside, and so full of hunger, that we have drawn power out of that emptiness and found Void. This has developed into void-users, and one of them touched Varus. However, Varus did not die to it. At first this is a wonder, but then I have found something…"

"What have you found?" Ahsoka wondered worriedly.

Visas sensed Skywalker and Koj were there as well. They heard it so far.

"The woman managed to establish a connection, as void-users do, to drain the life out of their victims. However, she did not expect there to already be someone with a connection to him. She did not expect someone on the other side of Varus…" Visas looked down are him. "She did not expect to come face to face with Nihilus."

The room fell into stunned silence. Visas allowed them that. They were not stupid, though they might come to the slightly wrong conclusion.

After a moment, she continued, "Varus is not possessed, but he has a force-bond with Nihilus. So do I, so does Luke, and HOLY SHIT so do you Skywalker! The woman tried to drain Varus, and only ended up dieing for it, however it would seem her 'attempt' on his life resulted in making the bond between Varus and Nihilus larger. Large enough to… well." She motioned to him. "The result is obvious. I doubt Nihilus meant to do it, neither kill the woman nor make his bond with Varus larger, as he wouldn't kill his precious apprentice until it is time. However, it seems he still had a bond of some kind with Varus and the rest of us. Weak enough to not kill us, but strong enough to play a definite role in our development and emotions."


	7. Ep01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 6

**Episode 1 - In the Path of Keepers part 6**

* * *

Ahsoka had known that the next time she laid eyes on Varus, that her resolve, and the very foundation of her relationship with him, would be tested. Would he learn not to hurt her again? Would he change? Would he not change? She couldn't go forward with him while watching her back every few days, by spying on him, by being wary he would betray her.

Not that he would cheat on her with another woman. Fathom the thought. He had trouble with woman beyond Ahsoka and Visas, and he was a bit uncomfortable with Visas and her one-sided crush. If a woman tried hitting on Varus, he would most likely flee for his life and hug Ahsoka to death and ask her to hide him.

But when you put aside the childish, and cute, aspects of his ignorant character and delved into the darker core where he truly believed himself to have to suffer alone

If he wouldn't let her in and accept her help and would rather leave her alone, even if it meant to protect her; she should move on and leave him as alone as he would make her.

That was partially what this time of absence was meant to convey. Just as much as it was meant for her to think about them, and to think of where she wanted to be in the future. As she thought, she couldn't imagine a life without him. He stirred something within her at every level.

With him, she tested her faith in what the Jedi were meant to be and found herself a better Jedi than she had ever been. She came to learn that, while the Jedi not wrong about the Force, that they had become so lost in tradition that they had lost sight of so many things. And he was a Sith! A sith of all things believed in her and what she could do, and wouldn't hold her back from doing the best she could. She felt that if she wanted to go to any planet and do anything to help people, he would only ask, 'Can it wait till after breakfast?' If anything, he encouraged her to explore her strengths and what she could do.

With him, she found the natural resolve to push herself. She exercised and practiced her self-defense and was leaving behind the basics to truly master her skills by making it her own. She made sure she was fit, not just for that, but for the same reason she dressed well and added a little make up: She wanted to look good, feel beautiful, perhaps even sexy. You could do that without being a sleaze.

With him, she looked forward to what the next day would bring and the tests it came with. It was always exciting. She laughed like never before, cried until she no more tears, and was at peace with herself and the world around her, this current moment not included.

Some of the worst moments in her life were either caused by him and apologized for, or was with him trying to protect her in some way. While the greatest moments in her life, after childhood, often included him being in the background standing by her.

She would either have to accept going into her adult-hood with him, or without him.

What she had not expected was to stumble into the main lobby because of Koj yelling his head off (a rare occurrence guaranteed to gain your attention) and to see Varus on a floating stretcher. The Varus she remembered was healthy, laughing loudly and always with a pranker's unbroken gleam in his eye. This corpse was not Varus. It couldn't be. He looked like a broken man who had endured years of emotional torture and stress, who had not had a bright moment in his life. He looked like a sick man who hadn't slept in years and was on the verge of malnutrition.

Whatever her issues with him were, it could wait. "What happened?!" She demanded. She was by his side immediately. He looked like he was in pain. She touched his cheek, and he responded by calming a bit, but she felt his energies jumping erratically, and the heat of fever on him.

"I do not know." Koj said. He sounded calm, but the way his eyes would not leave his brother showed his anxiety. "Visas brought him, but would not say what happened. I feel she will soon, but only after she searches for the cure to his condition."

Ahsoka would have to wait for Visas to learn of what happened. For now, he needed to be comfortable. There were many rooms here. She took hold of the cart. "Help me take him upstairs. He needs to be comfortable."

Koj helped her take him to a guest room. The bed was large enough to allow Varus to flail around and be comfortable. The rest of the room was large enough to allow whatever equipment was necessary or people wanted to be there. The sheets were thicker than what he would want with his fever, and she threw them off entirely. Koj would have moved Varus onto the bed simultaneously, but alas he had one arm. Ahsoka gently moved Varus onto the bed. Koj left.

Unsure what more to do but wait, Ahsoka briefly left to find the book she had been reading, and returned. She climbed onto the bed by him and sat on the expansive bed to read. He looked in pain when she returned, but calmed visibly into a gentle sleep as she was by him holding his hand.

She knew Varus as a man as rebellious and playful as a wild horse, not as an old man on the verge of dying from years of a frail body.

"You need a vacation." She squeezed his hand gently and focused on her reading.

Before long, Cahjinawl entered in, and stared at Varus mutely. She looked like she had just crawled out of bed. With nothing more than a yawn and a 'here we go again ' she climbed into the bed and collapsed between Varus and Ahsoka. Ahsoka just smiled.

She smelled dinner, but did not leave. They were obliging enough to have dinner brought to her. She sensed that Visas and the others were downstairs. While Ani undoubtedly knew Varus was in a bad state, he hadn't left Visas side. Most likely to assist her. A part of Ahsoka may have considered that Ani not coming himself to see Varus was cold, but she figured he was more proactive in the cure than that, and was leaving Varus in her hands. A warming thought. Now if only it wasn't such a common occurrence.

Hours after sitting there, Visas walked into the room. Ahsoka was always unsure with the woman. She couldn't read the Miraluka woman at all, and was wary that Visas would get involved in the relationship between her and Varus. Suffice to say, it was a great surprise when Visas said, "You win."

There was more said, many things said, that frightened Ahsoka. But in it all the realization that Nihilus had left one giant hook in Varus was the greatest of all, and the realization that it fit.

How could Varus truly move on when his master just kept reeling him back?

It was no wonder he kept getting depressed and feeling guilty and having hallucinations when he had a Sith Lord like that sucking away at him through a galaxy-wide straw.

Also, did no one notice Cahjinawl? That much was at least amusing. Oh well, the girl was sleeping. If no one said anything, neither would she.

"The connection needs to be cut." Koj said.

Ahsoka nodded. She was a breathe away from saying that exact thing. "We cannot allow Nihilus to continue to suck away from him. We cannot escape how Varus is the biggest Nihilus expert in the galaxy and belong on the forefront of any efforts against him, but Nihilus is not allowed any longer to tamper with him. Not if I have a thing to say about it."

"Not just for Varus, but all of us." Anakin agreed. He was balling his fists tightly. "Nihilus does it so naturally that my connections is because of being with him so closely for so long, and my son because of the short possession but Varus? That was intentional. Varus was never possessed. He has Varus branded, and the thought infuriates me."

"Yes, but then the question is in the methodology." Koj looked to Visas. "And as the Miraluka are experts on bonds of the Spirit, what would you suggest?"

Visas was silent a moment. "We have four types of connections to Nihilus here. My connection is small enough that my natural vitality keeps up with his feeding. In the case of you, Skywalker, your draining is enough to kill a normal person a thousand times over, but you are not affected by it in the least."

"Yeah I hear that a lot." Anakin scratched his head with a boyish smile.

"As for your son, his connection is larger than mine, but from what I can see, his connection with his sister allows him to share the burden. He pulls away at his sister just enough to be a mild burden, and feeds the rest with his own vitality. Between the two of them it is enough to keep him out of danger."

"That won't last much longer so far as I'm concerned." Anakin declared.

"And it won't. The fourth connection is Varus. Varus lacks your vitality, Skywalker. He has no one to help share his burden as Luke and Leia. He has a connection that, while originally small, has been expanded. His vitality is giving out."

"How long before he is in danger?" Koj asked.

"He is already in danger, the question is how long before it becomes lethal." Anakin replied.

"I cannot say hours." Visas shrugged gloomily. "The woman who did this to him died in a short time. If the same draining rate is applied to him, then it is already a wonder he has lived this long. He is a powerful Sith. So I cannot say if he even has one hour left."

Ahsoka heard enough. "I'll do it."

Visas hesitated, but said, "I would not jump up so quickly, if I were you. The connection required would be a level 4. While we can theorize the connection required to survive is only a level 3, we have no example of that at the moment. The only 'shared connection' to survive is a level 4."

"'Level fore'?" Koj wondered.

"Level 4 connection of Force bonds." Visas explained. "In your terms basically acquaintance, friend or coworker, family marriage."

Ahsoka felt her heart stop and Anakin looked to her sharply with concern. Marriage?!

Oh, Force! Marriage! Her and Varus!? She wasn't ready for something like that! She did not yet have her answer as to whether he could improve past this fight or not! How could she consider something like this before having an answer so crucial to her relationship with him!

Seeing her panicking, Anakin spoke up. "I'll do it. If survival from being drained is an issue, then if I establish a lower bond with him, as well as a greater one with my son, then I can take their burden without worry."

Visas still faced Ahsoka, who was getting dizzy, but responded to him. "That should work. Although I greatly doubt you can bypass the connection between your twins. Leia still has the highest connection possible. You can't go higher than that."

"And what of Varus?" While they were his kids, Visas hinted Varus might die that night. That greatly concerned Anakin.

Visas sighed. "It depends on a lot of things. This is a complicated art, creating a properly refined force bond between individuals. If Nihilus' connection has widened too much, then nothing short of a level 4 will do any good, and then it requires permission from both sides."

"Both. Sides." Koj repeated.

Visas nodded. "Varus would need to agree. The connection requires that both sides mutually establish the bond, or at the very least open up to it."

"My brother is unconscious."

"Then you would have to go into his head and get him to open up and relax into it. And besides, as semi-permanent as it is, it is not something for you to do just to bide time and remove off later. It would be hacking off your arm."

This was becoming more and more down a very uncomfortable area for Ahsoka. She felt her legs give out and she managed to catch herself on the end of the bed. All of her blood was rushing to her head.

"You sound like you have experience in this area " Anakin hinted.

"It is a typical marriage bond." Visas said simply. "I'm familiar with how it is done."

"Please don't call it a marriage bond." Ahsoka put her head in her hands.

Visas rolled her head. "Call it what you will. That is our culture. We do have ceremony, but the bond works just as well."

"How would it work?" Anakin asked.

"In this case, we would need his consent, which means going into his mind, finding him, and getting him to agree. Once he agrees, the connection can be made, he would be stable, and we can attack the bond itself between him and Nihilus."

"Would Ahsoka be able to remove her bond after?"

"Not without causing erepibible damage to both of them."

"Can I do it without marrying him?" Ahsoka asked. Her head was still in her hands.

Visas sighed, "That's between you and him, but it would have to be soon. The process takes time, depending on how long it takes for you to convince him."

They fell silent. Koj caught sight of his daughter, and ushered her out. Anakin stood by Ahsoka, giving her silent comfort in whatever decision she made. It may hurt him over the short time, but Anakin was prepared to go into this kind of bond with Varus himself, just so they could remove the Nihilus one, let Varus recover, then cut it, if Ahsoka didn't want to go through with it.

"I'll do it." Ahsoka gasped out. "Lets do it before I change my mind."

Visas nodded. "Alright. Skywalker, go get your siblings. If Nihilus' hold is strong enough, they may be the only ones with the power to cut it. I'll explain to them how. Ahsoka, lay back and close your eyes."

Ahsoka rolled over and sighed. "This is not how I imagined spending today."

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual."

Ahsoka closed her eyes. She didn't know how long she laid there, but before long she opened her eyes to find herself in a dark tunnel.

The tunnel was of metal, wet, and gloomy, with sparks flying periodically. It turned to the right, and she glanced down it. At the end was a fork. She recognized this place: It was the Ravager. "What the hell?" She wondered. "Wasn't I just " Oh great. Ahsoka face palmed. "This is what Visas meant about going into his mind." This must have been a place Varus was familiar with, a place conjured up by his memories.

Well this was just fantastic!

* * *

"I don't like this " Anakin muttered. He rubbed his face in exasperation.

"Which part are you referring to?" Koj inquired.

"None of it."

Before them was the bed where Varus still was, and next to him lied Ahsoka. Visas sat between them in meditation, helping facilitate the connection. Anakin had sent servants to politely request the presence of his family.

So far as Anakin knew, the problem was simply a connection from Varus to Nihilus still being intact. It was hidden well by him if it lasted this long without anyone noticing.

The cure was as simple as cutting this connection, and this was where Anakin found the situation unusual. Miraluka were experts in Force bonds more than anyone, being their greatest strength and yet a fatal flaw in Nihilus's attack and the loss of the bonding network. With their expertise, Anakin trusted that Visas knew what she was doing, but he felt there were other solutions.

"Cutting a Force bond isn't that difficult." Anakin explained. "We Jedi can do it. Miraluka are experts at it. My siblings can do it so why does Visas insist on establishing this connection?" He shook his head. "There is more to it than that."

"Of course there is." Koj agreed. "She has lived a life in what you call it? Shadow-and-dagger?"

"Espionage." The Jedi Master supplied.

"That, yes. It takes a simple mind to do things for a purely singular purpose without considering and balancing the contingencies. She has lived in politics and 'espianawg' all her life. She is incapable of such shallow thought. Every action affects multiple parties and has multiple benefits while hurting others."

Anakin nodded. It was true, and something that aggravated him about his wife. She was too analytical at times. Unfortunately, being a Jedi Master, he was a bit the same way. He saw a lot of things with the question of 'how would it affect the jedi', or his prophecy, or family.

Koj rubbed his daughters head. "There are two things here I trust. First, Visas is doing this at the benefit of Varus and her people. Second, she would not intentionally hurt us or remove the Togruta's ability to choose. Because despite her assurances and Ahsoka's best wishes, such a Force bond as the one being created would be paramount to marriage."

"That is why I dislike it "

"The idea of them being married?"

"More the idea of it being pressured." Anakin mused. "They should be allowed the time to get to it on their own time. This is no better than an arranged one."

Koj nodded. "I understand your republic views such bonds as being ones where you must choose your mate. However, that is a very linear way of thinking. While I agree, such a methodology would be better if allowed to prosper, but the choosing of a mate is just as much a political move beyond our own hands. I was mated without a choice, and we made it work. From my studies, this is a common pattern in society, especially ones with a lower population."

"Sounds like an excuse."

"I hardly expect you to agree, but do understand the Miraluka are like the Ghorfa. We both function under very different structures than your Republic did." Koj looked to Visas. "I think Visas has managed to meet a middle ground, though. As Keeper, Varus has to choose someone to bond with. That is a fact. Ahsoka has that choice, and since this 'bond' requires mutual consent, then it is both of their choice."

Anakin grumbled, but couldn't disagree. He still felt uncomfortable with the situation. It shouldn't be pressured like this, and if he were to have his way, they would not be married.

But why? Anakin sighed.

He was just being hypocritical. He made it out to be bad for them to be pressured into it, yet just as much he wanted to take away the option. He felt like they were his kids. He wanted them both to grow and find nice people and have kids but with each other?

His mother didn't want him to go either. Padme said once that the worst part of being a parent is letting the child go when its time.

Anakin felt torn between staying and watching over them, and leaving to get out of the way.

"I still find it curious, though. Why get your family involved?" Koj inquired. "If this a problem you can solve, then why?"

Anakin considered it a moment. "I don't know. My best guess is that trying to tamper with a bond from Nihilus is lethal. That woman who attacked Varus learned that the hard way. It's like trying to patch up a black-hole. You can't let yourself get sucked in while doing it. If we can get him stabilized, then we can go about plugging that damn hole."

* * *

Ahsoka felt her way through the dark tunnels. Despite recognizing the place as the Ravager, and recogizing the location in which she was in, the layout was all wrong. The last right should have headed towards a major elevator, but instead ended in open space.

"Thank the Force this isn't real I would be vacuumed out long ago." She figured. No air, no nothing. This was a weird place dimension? Dream? Nightmare? She didn't know.

As she walked, she couldn't stop the feeling she was being stalked. It was nothing at first, but then a giant shadow passed. It was like a dark ghost. She would have thought it to be Nihilus having left something inside Varus, but it was either a dream-version of Nihilus that could not see her or it was just nothing. Whatever it was, it didn't see her. She still felt she was being stalked though.

She looked back, and saw no one. She stopped walking, and heard boots echo only to stop abruptly. "Who is there!" She yelled.

Nothing.

She couldn't use the Force here. She had tried. She would have turned invisible or created a light to walk by. She had no lightsaber either. For that matter, she wasn't even wearing the same clothes she started in. She was wearing the stuff she usually did. Add another layer of weird.

Ahsoka turned aside to another passage and found herself in the cafeteria. Ghostly images of people whisked by in rapid motion going about their daily lives. "Creepy." She touched one and her hand went through.

A high pitched scream straight from Hell echoed down the hall heading in her direction, and she fled into the cafeteria. She jumped behind the counter and hid. Predictably, the ghastly blackness flew into the cafeteria. In its presence, the images ceased to exist. The room became empty of movement, of light, of expression. It became a horror-filled dark room. The darkness seemed to go on forever, clawing and scraping at every surface. Then just as abruptly as it entered, it left. The room lit up again and became less dreary, but the images did not return.

The sound of boots appeared again, and Ahsoka turned down another path. Before long, she stopped to examine her place. Beside her was a crate on which stood a little statue of a person. Ahsoka peered at it curiously. She had never seen it before.

The statue changed into Nihilus.

Ahsoka screamed and jumped back into the wall, but just as quickly as it appeared, the small statue returned to normal. She gave herself a moment to collect herself before continuing on. "This place is giving me the creeps " She took a left. This passage only had one direction to go, which was another left. Only upon taking a left she found herself back at the same crate.

"What?" She questioned. Why was she back here? She only took three lefts, not four. The passage was the same, and again she was standing before the same crate with the small statue ontop. "Okay, this is getting old."

She turned back only to find a dead-end. Getting increasingly aggravated, she followed the path, only this time it lead to a door rather than more and more halls. She opened the door and blacked out. The next thing she knew she was sliding down a river. No, not a river a kind of trench waterfall. She was pulled down and suddenly it bottomed out and she fell onto another floor. Only it was a roof set up as the floor.

"If this is a sign of the kind of sense of humor he has, I'm not laughing." She complained.

The passage lead only one way, and this time the way up involved a tight-rope. She rolled her eyes and set to climbing. She grasped the rope and pulled herself up, only to shriek and fall back as something screamed in pain from above.

Nothing.

"Varus, when I get out of here, I'm gonna kick you." She growled. She climbed up the rope again, this time ignoring the scream from above. She made it to the top and pulled herself up, only to shriek again. There was a faceless body with the rope around his/her neck. The body was still breathing, but had been screaming while Ahsoka had pulled herself up the rope.

Ahsoka eyed the person a long time. Was this person real? He didn t seem remotely injured. He actually looked relax laying on a plank of wood with a rope around his neck naked. "Hello? Who are you?" She whispered.

No response.

"Okay, I'll just um." She inched her way by. "How about I let you be." She made it past the faceless man and turned around. She about jumped out of her skin. Two rows of ancient-style sets of knight armor stood facing her. She eyed them closely. None of them moved, not even when she got close. She walked by.

"Ahsoka, calm yourself. Your just being jumpy, but damnit all this place is creepy!"

She opened a door to find herself in a much larger round room. Doors lead off in every direction.

The darkness-thing shrieked behind her.

Ahsoka shut the door and tried another door, but it was locked. Every door she tried proved to be locked. There was nowhere to hide, but there was a ladder in the middle of the room leading up into nothingness. The door she entered from jiggled madly. She was out of options. She climbed up the ladder. It lead into nothing but darkness, but she climbed on. She could no longer see the bottom nor the top, and who knows how far up the ladder she was. Knowing this place, basic laws of physics were thrown out the window.

Dim lights could be seen above, and she reached up to climb up, only to jerk back as something grabbed her hand. Whatever it was that grabbed her did not let go, but held firmly. "Let go!" She yelled. She pulled back, only to suddenly find herself dangling. The ladder had disappeared. The person who held her wrist wore armor under a black cloak. She looked down and saw nothing. She could hear the monster below prowling.

She quickly changed her mind. "Ah, no! Don't let go!"

Whoever it was holding her hand lifted her up with ease. The person was very strong. Found herself lifted up onto the next floor and she collapsed next to said person. "Thank you " She looked up to see the person's face and couldn't help but do a double-take. She knew this person, everyone did. There was no one in the galaxy who didn't know the mask of Revan.

"You are welcome." Darth Revan replied.


	8. Ep01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 7

**Note: This whole idea of being inside his head is not something to be taken seriously in terms of professional writing. Its for fun and symbolism. It is also cheesy. Just roll with it.**

 **Another thing is that I noticed something. I've been writing and writing and publishing, and I get practically no reviews or favorites or follows. Now, that is not necessarily a problem, but then when my track record is that I have a steady flow of them as I write, and it stops completely... Then something is wrong. I thought people would apprecite me making a shorter fiction to cover something quickly as a go-between for season 2 and 3. Yet I hear nothing good or bad really.**

 **Then I see I failed to list this story under ANY characters! This story is NOT listed under Galen Marek. It is NOT listed under Ahsoka Tano. It is NOT listed under Anakin Skywalker. It is NOT listed under OCs.**

 **Whoops. Bit late now xD**

 **A plan I have with this particular season 2.5 fiction is that once the primary plot ends, that I continue it as more of a series of... nonsense. I want Varus to take an actual vacation and relax without being in a prison for once before the next major series of events. So I'm gonna stick him on a stinkin beach already! He's going to go on an actual date! He's going to actually take a shot at being normal. Whether he gets lost or bored first, I can't say.**

 **Then we will have season 3.**

* * *

 **Episode 01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 7**

* * *

"Y-you're Darth Revan." Ahsoka muttered, her eyes widened. She wasn't sure if she was losing her mind or not.

The armored Jedi/Sith crossed his arms over his chest. "And just who else would I be?"

"Well-"

"How did you get out of your room?" Revan snapped.

"My room?" She blanched. "Wha?"

He stared at her a moment through the mask in silence. Her eyes darted away, uncomfortable with the gaze, then she reminded herself where she was. She was in Varus' head! Of course Revan would be there! He was a memory inside her boyfriend. She, on the other hand, wasn't just a memory, and she wasn't here to waste time.

She exhaled. "Look, I don't know what you think you are, but I need to find Varus. I appreciate the help, but I don't need you grilling me. You're just a memory."

He stiffened, and she heard him emit a light growl. She raised an eyebrow at that. He spoke sternly, "I know what I am, and I know what I am not. I may not be Revan, but nor am I just a memory. You, on the other hand, should have stayed in your room where you belong." He grasped her hand, "And I'm taking you back. If he catches you out here, we're all doomed."

"Let go of me!" She twisted her arm out of his grip. She stepped away from him, rubbing her wrist, and glaring. She had no real way to defend herself outside of martial arts. She hadn't felt this weak in a long time.

"We don't have time for this." Revan muttered. He extended a hand and Ahsoka found herself being pinned against the wall by an invisible force. It very well could have been the Force for all she knew. She tried to fight back, but his hold was too strong.

"How are you doing this? There is no Force here!"

Revan cocked his head to the side. He seemed to hesitate. "I'm integrated enough for him to have shared some control… but how do you know there is no Force here?" He walked slowly up to her pinned form and he sized her up.

"Perhaps because I'm not a memory like you!"

He scoffed.

"It's true!"

"You may or may not have noticed, but that is what everyone says, including me. Only I am special as I am from a Holocron, giving me the ability to be more than a fragment of perceived history. I have awareness outside of myself. I can create memory of my own."

"I'm over here talking to you! How is that not self-awareness?!" She saw Revan hesitate further. "Let me prove it."

"Okay. How exactly do you plan to do that? You can't tell me something only you and Varus would know. Remember, even the memories can do that."

"How about the fact that I am here to find Varus, talk with him, and help him stay alive long enough for the connection to Nihilus to be cut? Nihilus has a connection to Varus that is sucking the life right out of him." She stared back defiantly, her jaw strong. "Oh, and I am here through a Miraluka technique."

Revan, almost as per usual, was silent a moment in thought. "Okay, you got me. That's entirely outside of the usual Ahsoka memories." He dropped his hand and Ahsoka fell to her feet. "So…" He said with uncertainty. "You're… not… a memory."

"No. I'm an actual person."

"Inside Varus' head."

"Yeah."

Revan chuckled darkly. "As if he doesn't have enough things tampering around in here… okay, fine. If you are going to help around, there are some things you should know. First off, you seen this place?"

"Yeah, looks like the Ravager. Could use some fixing."

"Wasn't always like this. Before it was actually in good repair and memories traveled around freely. Some areas lead to parts where it was basically whole other planets (a reflection of other memories) and some were quite beautiful. I was able to amuse myself and watch freely, but the last…" He thought about it a moment. "Actually started about the time you ran off. Not that I am blaming you, but your influence disappeared and recently Nihilus' presence has been well…"

Revan looked down the hole. Ahsoka could still hear the creature prowling in the distance. "I'm sure you met him."

"That thing is Nihilus?!" She jerked her head.

"Kind of… it has always been there, but only ate away at weaker memories on occasion. But not long ago it started feasting on everything it could get its hands on. The only memories to survive are those smart enough to evade it, and those locked behind doors."

Ahsoka furrowed her brow. "Is that why you insisted on me being 'in my room'?"

He nodded. "Your room is one of the strongest." He glanced down. "We should head there and wait for that thing to move further away."

"Is it near?"

"Distance is relative. We can take shortcuts, come on." He took her hand again, and this time she let him lead her on.

He lead her on through passages Ahsoka did not seem coming. It was as if doors and turns appeared out of thin air. He kept a rapid pace, and she kept up easily. The sound of the darkness screeching fell into the distance, but at random intervals she heard it from the side as if they were being followed and tracked and it was solely by Revan's nearly erratic path and urgent pace that they were not caught.

However, despite his best efforts, they were surrounded. Ahsoka nearly slammed into his back when he screeched to a sudden halt. Revan turned his attention from one path to another, but the darkness only pressed in further on them from every direction.

"Revan?" Ahsoka asked, not understanding why he had stopped.

He had to make a choice. Nihilus had caught their scent and there were only a few safe places. "This way."

He lead her around another turn. They came to a door just as they saw the darkness closing in. Tendrils of shadow shot out at them and thousands of eyes opened from within. Revan opened the door and they rushed in. The tendrils reached in after them, but he slammed the door on them, effectively cutting them in half.

They stood there panting for a moment. Ahsoka put her hands on her knees and breathed heavily. "How am I so tired here?"

"You aren't, get over it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. She chose to ignore him. He was unlike what she had expected. From what Varus had said, Revan was a sarcastic, sly tease. She didn't doubt Varus, but Revan was proving to be… annoyingly serious and silent.

Ahsoka looked around for another way to go. She doubted they could go back out the way they came in. Nihilus was probably still prowling around.

Ahsoka blinked. "Wha?" They were in a nice place. It had marble walls, a rugged floor, and wooden doors. There were five wooden doors down the hall.

"This place is different." She observed.

Revan snapped his head to look down the hall, and groaned. "Oh, Force… not here…"

Ahsoka tried the first door. It was locked. "What's wrong?" The second door was locked as well.

"…" He sighed. "This place tends to move around…"

"Weird, why?"

"You will understand soon enough. Actually, I'd rather just leave."

"We can't do that. We only just got here. Let's at least find another way out. For all we know, Varus could be here."

Ahsoka was left with one door, and she headed towards it. But… it stayed away. For every step she made towards the door, it was one more step away. Confused, she burst out into a run, but the door was still just as far away as before. "Wha?" She turned, and found she hadn't actually moved.

"Floor moves." Revan said simply. He returned to the first they had entered through, and grabbed the handle.

"Don't!" Ahsoka yelled.

"Relax. I know what I am doing." He opened the door and… Ahsoka couldn't believe what she was seeing.

It wasn't the way they had come in, it was something else entirely. In front of her was a bright blue… something. All she knew was that on entering her vision was filled with blue and there was text in front of her face.

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

If this is your first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacterer for any Windows upates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as chaching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Statup Options, and then Select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x0000000050 (0xFd3094C2, 0x00000000001, 0xFBFE7617, 0x000000000000)

*** - Address FBFE7617 base at FBFE5000, DateStamp 3d6dd67c

"What… the… hell?" Ahsoka breathed.

Revan tapped her shoulder and pointed to the side. She gaped. There was a row of seven… faceless monsters singing opera. Another was hanging from the rafters and was shooting beams of light out of its eyes like a messed up discoball, and one guy in a red suit was hanging from a wrecking ball. There were a bunch of robotic squirrels with rockets on their backs running around and… was that Anakin with rainbows shooting out of his butt?

Revan grabbed her by the shoulder and tugged her along. "Hey, Deadpool." He said.

"Hey."

They came to another door and Revan opened it. Only behind it was a smaller door. With each door opened, it got progressively smaller until it was tiny. Inside was a key. Revan took it and tugged Ahsoka along back out the other way.

"Bye, Deadpool."

"Bye."

Revan closed the door on them. Ahsoka was still stunned. "What was that?"

"Welcome to his sense of humor…"

Ahsoka shuddered. Revan nodded. "See, told you. Let's just get out of here." Revan walked to the door they previously could not reach, and inserted the key into the door.

"You will have no argument from me." Ahsoka felt another shudder coming on.

Revan exited the door first, looking both ways to be sure the coast was clear, then gestured for her to follow. They sped down the path once more. They passed many doors. Most of which were broken down. Ahsoka glanced inside and gasped at what she saw. Broken ghosts and fragments of life were inside and looked like they were dieing. Revan paid none of it any mind, and time was pressing. At last he stopped before another door and ushered her in.

"We should be safe here." Revan said. He shut the door behind them. Ahsoka's eyebrows rose. This place looked exactly like her room. Only… it looked more bright. It was very warm and she felt welcome. She could hardly restrain herself from sitting down.

Whether it was a memory or perspective, her room looked brighter and more welcoming to Varus than it did to her. Whether that showed his comparison in what he was used to versus what she was used to, and what he considered of greater value than her; she was unsure.

This place was also a stark contrast from the rest of what she had seen thus far. Everything out there was breaking down, torn apart, failing, and consumed by a great shadow. Here… it was bright and full of life. All around her she saw dozens and dozens of ghosts. Ghosts of her and Varus, and at times others, interacting. They moved at such a brisk pace that she couldn't make out what was said (it was silent), but she saw herself and Varus meditating on the floor, the times he was embarassed or unsure in such an alien enviroment, the times they were cooking or sitting on the couch watching a holovid or just talking. In all of them, she noticed that the ghost of Varus was a blur, but her own ghost was so real… She almost wondered if she was cloned or was looking in a mirror.

"I take it… this is my room from his perspective?" Ahsoka wondered. She stooped down to look at herself meditating, and could only marvel at the detail. Every twitch on her face was revealed… her every-… did she really pop her neck from side to side so much? Or tilt her head slightly to the side when she smiled?

Something about seeing even something so small hit Ahsoka hard. She couldn't help but smile brightly. Varus paid so much attention to her he even noted little twitches.

"Not your room. You." Revan replied. Ahsoka's eyes fell and the warm feeling spread. "I can't claim to know why he would put you in your room. I'm just a holocronic memory."

"If you're just a memory, then how can u interact so much? I wouldn't expect you to be able to. Why aren't you a ghost like the rest of these?"

He shrugged. "Holocrons are able to interact with the outside world anyway, despite being containers of memories. I never delved into them much. My guess is that they grab more than empty memories, but personality. Or perhaps a bit of the soul… or the Force from the user. Maybe all three, but my best guess is the latter."

Revan entered her bedroom, or rather the memory of it, and Ahsoka followed. She stopped and stared in utter mortification. Varus. And. Her. Were. In. Bed. Not Sleeping. Hell, she didn't think she even considered doing something like THAT with him! Much less having actually had!

Revan casually walked by to the closet as if what he was passing by didn't exist and returned with her lightsabers. But she was already gone. He found her on the couch with her head in her hands. "Here." He held them out.

She didn't move.

He sighed. "Okay, now we come to silence. What's wrong?" Revan asked.

She opened her hands enough to glare up at him, "He's honest and sweet and wouldn't hurt me if he could… How can he mix reality with… with THAT!?"

"He's a guy." Revan stated flatly.

"Is that normal?"

"Yeah."

Ahsoka took her lightsabers from him. She placed her lightsabers on her side and rose up. He nodded, "Now, you said you were looking for him?"

"I am."

"I haven't seen him lately, but in the past he tends to be in one of three places the most: You, his humor, and his guilt."

Ahsoka felt herself pale. If different parts of this mindscape depicted personality or memories, then seeing his guilt personally was not a prospect she was looking forward to. She gulped, "And you think he might be there?"

"Would be my best guess. But I would caution you: That is where the shadow enters and leaves most."

She tsk'd. She didn't know if a lightsaber actually worked here or not. Revan had given it to her, but then she had just been following him all this time. He knew his way around, not her. He had lightsabers of his own, but he was also fleeing from Nihilus's shadow… so logically she deduced they don't work on him.

Not that it's any different from real life. Lightsabers don't work on Nihilus there either… Maybe that's why.

"Any secret entrances?" She tried.

"Not that I know of."

"And the shadow will squeeze the life out of me if it catches me?"

"Like a grape." He replied nonchalantly.

"Then any ideas?"

Revan glanced to her, then rubbed his chin in thought and looked out the door. "Get into the one place you will most likely find Varus, and bypass Nihilus. Knowing him he is everywhere, and most importantly is moving in and out of the darkest corner of Varus' mind on a regular basis. Nihilus consumes everything he touches, and he would be hunting both you and I specifically because we are the tastiest part of Varus left."

"Are you trying to make me pessimistic?"

He sat down on her couch and put his hands together. "Not at all, but it is important to recognize the mindset of a rival when you play against him."

"It's a fragment!"

"So am I." He chuckled. Ahsoka could practically hear his grin. "And I am the only one Nihilus has never been able to beat in chess. So give me a moment."

Ahsoka gulped, nodded, and let him have his peace. He sat in silence, and after a few moments he reached out with his right hand, grabbed something in the air, and moved his hand over and released. He continued the pattern around in front of him, and before long she realized he was playing chess with himself in the air.

Abrubtly he stood and said, "I can't think of any way to do this with what we have right now. We are two pieces, and he has many that are more maneuverable and dangerous."

"Then-"

Revan opened the door and motioned for her to follow. He swept out and yet despite the odds he himself stated, he seemed the most relaxed person in the world. He moved at his pace. "It just means we have to change the board. Put the king in front. Change the rules. Add more players." Abruptly he stopped at a fork and turned on her. "Listen, we don't have much time. The door you want is ahead, but take a right instead and head deeper in. Find a way to the door on your own, do not let me find you just as much as him. I cannot know what you are doing."

"Why?" She was completely lost, what was going on in his head!? "That makes no sense!"

"It does. I am going to draw Nihilus away, but he reads me just as much as I read him. If I adapt myself based on what you are doing knowingly, then he will read that. Let me handle him. Now go!" He barked suddenly.

He turned and ran down the opposite path, and Ahsoka hesitated long enough to see the former Sith Lord and Jedi Champion disappear before turning and doing the same. Before long she heard the screeching of the shadow in the distance behind her, but it did not sound like it was following. More and more screeches appeared, yet she never ran into any no matter how many it seemed were near. She moved through the labrynth with speed, yet care, and at one point heard chattering that was unlike the shadow. She looked around the corner to find one of the robotic squirrels running down the path fleeing from a living shadow.

She smiled, realizing what he was doing, "More pieces… Change the board."

She waited a few precious seconds for the living shadow to go further away, and listened attentively. She saw an arched open doorway a bit down the hall, and she heard the screeching shadows in the distance. The coast was clear.

She ran for it and passed between the arches. Immediately she found herself falling down a tunnel of thick water that ended in a giant pool. She fell in, swam to the surface, and immediately spat it back out. It had a thick metallic taste to it. "Gah! Disgusting." Upon reaching the surface, she found the ground beneath her and planted her feet.

All around her, as far as the eye could see, was water. It was an infinite abyss of water. She half considered yelling to see if there was an echo, but she didn't want to draw the attention of any shadows remaining.

Yet while she was silent, she heard voices. So many voices, and many of it was the same thing.

'NOOO!'

'Please, no!'

'Oh, gods!'

'I'll stop you!'

'Evil!'

It went on and on, and each one was a different voice. Mixed in with the voices was generic screaming, screaming she recognized as being a person in pain, or the faint gasp of someone dieing. Something she knew, unfortuantely, was a sound people make when stabbed in the back through the lungs. Little things like that take away your innocence, and she recognized it as a sound she heard yelled out by the waters.

Not wanting to just stand around, she pressed forward. She had an idea where the entrance had been, and so moved forward hoping to find a landmark. The waters tugged at her feet. It was thick as syrup. She didn't know how long she moved through the waters, but before long she heard another series of sounds mixed in. Like… rushing water.

She reached a point where the water around her moved on its own towards a point in the distance. Taking this as a landmark as much as any, she struggled forward.

Out of the water came hands that tugged at her. The tugging was weak, but slowed her down. She threw the hands off, but more and more kept coming out of the water. Looking down, she saw faces, corpses with eyes looking up at her. Eyes floated in the water and stared. In front of her arose a figure from the water, and the water fell to reveal Maris Brood. Ahsoka felt pang of guilt for what her friend had become, just as much as she realized what the friend symbolized in her love. Maris had become deranged, irrational, and the very thing she hated.

"You aren't real." Ahsoka declared.

The water-image, though, didn't care and came at her. Ahsoka cut it down, and it exploded into water as her lightsaber met flesh. The water enveloped her and Ahsoka sputtered. That taste…

It wasn't water. This was blood!

She had been trudging through a lake of blood!

Ahsoka felt the overwhelming urge to vomit, but a guttural cry drew her attention. More and more figures rose from the water. They were like walking corpses, decapitated or stabbed or burnt or just killed in some way, and they came at her with reckless abandon. It was difficult to resist while being shin deep in blood, but she managed to keep them off her. They were not real, but nor did she want to take the chance.

After the tenth person she cut down, she noticed it was becoming harder and harder to walk or turn. The blood lake had risen to her knees!

Another person came at her, a former Jedi, and Ahsoka cut the person down. The blood rose further and only more appeared.

So this was Varus' guilt… In his mind he was in a lake of blood and corpses. From the first murder, he had to press on, and with each kill (defensive or not) the blood only rose and the bodies piled up and more were after him.

In the distance she saw a mountain, and pressed forward. The enemies stopped coming briefly. Instead, the symbolism of guilt returned in voices. Voices she recognized.

'You bastard!' Ahsoka heard her younger self yell. 'I HATE YOU!'

'Forgiveness is wasted on me…' She heard Varus say.

Ahsoka had enough. She tuned out as much of it as she could, but her heart ached at the unending blame. She heard Varus' own voice talk about loneliness and how it was all he deserved in the end, she heard Anakin and herself chastising him, she heard Rebhorn and Koj talk about how his people were dieing or losing their minds, how he had nearly set up the barbarian Rakata up to die, she heard people declared dead.

Abrubtly she was pulled forward into the water. She struggled blindly and in the chaos felt herself slammed into stone. She grabbed hold and lifted herself up.

The mountain she had been trudging towards was a kind of… ancient stone temple. It was built as a pillar in steps up towards something. Just behind her, still pulling at her, was a whirlpool. She had nearly been sucked in! She dared a glance in and all she saw was void. Infinite depth and emptiness. Out of the whirlpool spawned shadows, and she knew in her gut that this spot was where Nihilus's bond was centered.

She pulled herself up and rested a moment on the first step. All around her were groaning faceless bodies. Blood flowed freely down the temple steps and flesh and guts and gore tumbled down after it. Something told her Varus was at the top. Call it intuition. At the very least it would provide a vantage point.

She struggled her way up step by step. With each step the voices, the blame, the groans all grew louder and the blood flowed more and more freely until the stone she walked on was stained red and before long she could only endure the squishing of flesh beneath her boots.

She reached the top.

Before her was an altar. It was clean, prestine. Had a freshly sharpened knife on it. To the left was a gangplank reaching out over the whirlpool.

Varus stood at the end of it looking down at the whirlpool.

"Varus?"

All sound ceased. The voices went away. The clawing limbs no longer sprouted. It was almost tranquil, were it not for the whirlpool of blood beneath them and the shadows rising from it or the infinite gulf beneath them within its depths. Varus did not answer.

"Varus?" She approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't respond. His eyes were vacant. Ghosts, little more than mist, circled him. Hands held him down and she could hear faint whispering in his ear. She called out louder, "Varus! Wake up, it's an illusion!"

Nothing.

"Varus…" She struggled to know how to get through to him. He wasn't responding to her words, and her touch was no better. She put her head against his chest and sighed. She was filthy, tired, covered in blood, scratched up, and had been running around scared since she got there. The horrors of what she had seen boggled her mind, and her heart had not stopped racing from terror, fear, anxiety, adrenaline, or fright, either. All for her to find him unresponsive in the worst place imaginable.

And what she had seen here, the sheer depth of guilt in this place, made her shudder. She always knew he was burdened, but this was beyond anything she had expected. And she felt she was herself partially to blame. It was right for her and Anakin to teach him what was right, but in so doing, they revealed to him what was wrong… and what he had done. Tears welled up in her eyes as guilt, exhaustion, anxiety, and potential failure all collided at once. "Please, I didn't come all the way here to turn back. You're dying. I need you to agree to establishing a bond with me… just one to keep you from dieing while the others try to fix you up. Son, Daughter, Flyboy, Koj, Visas, all of us are rooting for this and they will help as much as they can, but to do that we need to go through with this. I know you have been uncomfortable with a connection. We had one at one time, but it disappeared when you went to jail, and you are scared to make it again because you don't want me to see what is in your head now… but I have seen it. And despite it all, I'm fine. I'm not running away… You need to forgive yourself Varus… we were fools. I can't be your forgiveness, because you have to forgive yourself… Otherwise you can't really press forward." She sniffed. "I want us to get married one day, have like… a dozen kids… settle down somewhere quiet, yet with access to transportation that would allow us to go when we feel like helping someone somewhere. Like the Ravager maybe… I never told you, but I had a vision of the Ravager once, and it scared the stuffing out of me. When I first entered it, it still scared me. But you showed me it wasn't scary. It was a hollow shell to protect something beautiful, and once Nihilus was removed, it was great. Once the Ravager was fixed up by the Forge, I would even say it is comfortable and a girl worthy of being a flagship… I love you and I just… I want to have a normal relationship with Nihilus GONE from your life. He is sucking away at me just like you because of it… but I want to help bear it… to get rid of him once and for all."

She sniffed again and looked up at him with blurry eyes. His eyes, though, were still vacant.

"And you aren't listening to a word I've said… are you?..."

Nothing.

She sighed in acceptance. "I'm sorry."

Son held his hand over Varus. He couldn't sense things as easily as his sister, but he had his ways. With his eyes closed and his senses fine tuned to analyze the subject, he poured a tiny bit of power at a time into the patient, and paused to see what happened.

It was the best theory he had about finding this 'hole' the blind woman kept referring to.

The alien girl laid next to him, and the others were in the room watching. Son's brother was the least patient, but held himself back, though he looked like he wanted to step in every second. The patient's alien brother (how is that supposed to work?) was by far the most patient. He was like a rock. He had yet to move.

Son frowned. So far he had found nothing. "Are you sure there is something here, woman?"

"There is. Keep looking."

Son moved his hand around.

"Lower."

He moved his hand lower.

"Lower."

Son moved his hand lower. "You know, If I go any further south, this will become homo, right?" Son complained. "And while I may be open to possibilities, I care little for mortals. Even a demi-god has his pride."

"Left."

"The hip then?" Son inquired.

"Higher."

"Make up your mind! Is it lower or higher!" Son snapped.

"Then stop moving so far!" The blind woman snapped back. "Now shut up and listen instead of complaining before I cut your hand off!"

Son was momentarily startled. He would deny it, but he hesitated for a fraction of a second. It had been many ages since a mortal had snapped at him without him purposefully trying to get a rise out of them, and with such fire. He just as quickly changed to see her as something at least half-way interesting. "Well, well, aren't you a malicious woman."

"The term you are looking for is bitch. You presumptuous anorgasmiac."

Skywalker burst out in laughter to the extent that he fell off his chair, and the male alien just sighed. Son blinked again. His hesitation grew longer, and in turn, he smiled hungrily. His sharp teeth glistened in drool, "Oh, you are delicious."

The male alien said, "Enough flirting you two… focus on the situation at hand."

Son allowed his eyes to stay on the little hellion a moment longer before placing his attention back on the subject. He placed his hand back on the man's hip, and as he did so, the man jolted. His entire body simply shook as though hit by electricity.

Everyone jumped in surprise. Son would deny being included under the term 'everyone'. (Whether that is because of being included in the same usage of a word that places him tin the same group as mortals, or because he was surprised as well, even I cannot say.)

"What did you do?!" The blind woman demanded.

Son replied, "For once, my little hellion, a person has flinched as though in pain in my presence and IT IS NOT my fault."

Varus stared wide-eyed to the side. An angry hand-mark glowed on his cheek. He blinked and turned to look at her. "Ahsoka?" He reached up and touched his cheek. "Why does my face hurt?"

"I think you hurt yourself." She smiled innocently.

"… how?" He looked wonderfully confused. "And where are we?"

"Nowhere. Look, we have a situation. Nihilus has a force-bond with you that has been sucking the life out of you slowly for years, but didn't become dangerous until you encountered some void-lady."

Ahsoka spoke quickly, but Varus went through a variety of emotions. Hurt, pain, anger, focus. She could practically read the betrayel in his eyes.

"So… he lied." Varus concluded. She nodded, sorry to see the hurt in his eyes, yet warmed to think he believed her in something so shocking without a shred of evidence.

"All these years…" He murmured. "I hate him, but the one thing I thought was remotely honorable was his sense of reality, of truth, and honesty. Lies are beneath him." Varus's eyes moved wildly from side to side in thought. He seemed half-way between a panic and acceptance. "If he lied about this, what else has he lied about?"

She grabbed his shoulders. "Varus, focus. I don't know the scientific gibberish, but when this void-lady tried to consume you, she encountered Nihilus on the other end, died, and made the bond larger. You are in a coma."

"Lovely. Well, Koj was telling me I needed my rest." He smiled jokingly. "Haven't been sleeping much lately."

It was nice to see he had his sense of humor still, though it still hurt her for him to try to make a joke out of what had been happening lately.

Ahsoka cleared her throat. "Regardless, Visas believes that a Miraluka bond will keep you from dying. Apparently it is comparable to what twins have, and it is keeping Luke from dying even though he is as bad off as you are."

"Bond." Varus parroted back. He narrowed his eyes slightly. "I don't like those."

"Varus…" Ahsoka sighed. She understood he didn't and why. "We are both strong Force users… and we're courting. Don't you think having a bond again would have been a next step for us at some point?" Varus fidgeted uncomfortably and avoided eye contact. She could practically see his inner walls come up over the idea of seriously making a force bond with her… with anyone.

"So… you forgive me." It was a statement.

"I forgave you a while back, but wanted you to learn something and I needed space to think. If I had known what you were going through..."

He nodded, but looked down. "You wouldn't have come back. Its fine. It's what I deserved. My people is my own mess, and I pushed you away."

She felt her heart drop. "You can't believe that."

He shrugged.

"You don't deserve to be alone just because… No one does. Isolation is the worst torture that can be done to a person… let me in."

He huffed, but said nothing.

"Please?"

He glanced at her, but still tried to avoid her gaze. He was very uncomfortable with the idea, but he closed his eyes, and nodded.

In Mandalore space there existed a top-secret base where only the most dangerous secrets and weapons of all sorts were contained. Its location was blacked out from all records and was known only in the memory of two men, who were sworn to never be within a parsec of each other in the case of something killing them both at once. The base was automated entirely by HK-51 droids with short-term memories. While not as dangerous as what HK-47 had evolved into, they were still capable of handling even the most dangerous of threats. Mandalore had considered sicking them on Starkiller at one point, confident they would have killed the clones, but did not unleash them as the secrets they protected were of a nature that if their very existance was known the galaxy would shake.

In the deepest bowels of the station, within layers of shielding to contain air, light, sound, every form of energy known to man, resided two objects on a pedestal. A sphere and a mask. Within the sphere was a black mist that flowed in random circles as it saw fit in its boredom. Waiting. Thinking. Preparing.

Until suddenly, it stilled. It did not think, it only felt. Something had changed. It felt it out and searched from within its cage. Something at the very core of its being had been removed, and this change was so drastic to it that it sent the mist into a frenzy. It would not stop. It would not sleep. Not until it knew wha- It stopped. It realized. It knew.

Nihilus screamed in rage unlike any he had ever felt before. He threw himself at the borders of its cage in wild abandon, bereft of all thought and rationality, he beat against his prison with the mindless brutality of an animal. The mask shook, the pedestal shifted and fell over, and the crystal clattered to the ground. The ball rolled across the floor, sparks flew from all around the room as the power of the Force and Void battled around him. The walls dented only to fix themselves. Glass shattered and dangling objects swung. The mask shook and vibrated and clattered its sides on the ground. The whole room shook. The vacuum sealed room popped and air flooded in.

As abruptly as it started, it ended. The room fell into tranquility and silence. The mask did not move, and the mist inside the crystal moved lazily.

Predictably, droids stormed the room. The movement had set off alarms galore and already Mandalore was receiving a flash notice that there might have been interference with Nihilus. However, nothing would be found, and Nihilus was placed back on his pedestal. Security was tightened. A strap was placed around both the mask and the ball inside of a vacuum sealed glass cage to prevent possible movement.

In all of this, the mask was silent.


	9. Ep01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 8

**Episode 01 - In the Path of Keepers Part 8**

* * *

"Connection established." Visas confirmed.

She climbed off the bed and leaned back, popping a kink in her back. She had been meditating for a while now to help them. Son continued to overlay his hand over the Miraluka and probe him. "His signature is shifting." Son confirmed. He found their energies to both be shifting inside, and begin to sync in some ways. Then the draining sensation started with her, while lessening on him. Almost immediately Varus breathed easier and some color returned to his complexion.

"He does look better." Koj confirmed.

"Hm." Son hummed, not really paying attention. He felt he was close. The shift in how Varus' signature naturally felt helped a lot, because while his own signature shifted with the 'sharing' it started to do with the female, there was a part of it that didn't change. He focused his attention on that area. "Found you." Son smiled viciously. "Okay, nobody panic. This will only hurt, a lot."

"How comforting." Anakin muttered.

Son focused himself a moment. With power, normally, he would consider his techniques to take many forms. Explosions, draining, a wrecking ball a mile wide. He had complete control over his power and it was massive in scale. He was Dark Side incarnate. The only area that was difficult was in, perhaps, holding back. No. Difficult was not the right term… Annoying.

He had to more or less fire a nuke inside Varus with all the precision and gentleness of a surgical scalpel. Not the easiest thing he has done in the last few years.

He tsk'd. "Might be helpful if someone held him down."

Anakin and Koj shared a glance, and took up both sides of him. One held down the man's shoulders while the other grabbed him by the waist. To get a better position, Son climbed on top and straddled his chest momentarily with his hand pointed down over his stomach.

"Time to panic." He shoved his fingers into Varus.

Anakin nearly screamed at him for driving his sharp fingers into him like a blade, but Varus screaming in agony as well as a deep red glow overlaying the 'wound' and no blood kept him from reacting. Varus thrashed around, and even Ahsoka screamed in pain and rolled off the bed. Anakin and Koj could barely hold him down. Lightning poured off of him in massive waves, a burst of energy caused everything around them to fly into the walls and the window shattered, the void within him reacted instinctively and grasped at them. Koj jumped away from the void while Anakin and Son both endured it. It visibly weakened Son to do so, but he could hold on for a time.

After one of the longest few seconds of Anakin's life, Son slowly retracted his fingers out of Varus. There was no wound and the red glow disappeared as his hand was removed. Varus collapsed on the bed utterly exhausted and looking worse than before.

Visas returned to Varus' side and looked at him closely. "The bond has been severed."

Son unsaddle him and jumped to the floor. "You should be glad you had me handle it. Should anyone else have attempted that, they would be dead now. That… thing… on the other end was not happy." Son looked to his brother. "What exactly is that? I realize you call it Nihilus, but I had assumed you were discussing something remotely mortal."

"Nihilus is difficult to explain… But, I would say, he is comparable to you and Sister. You are born of the Dark Side. Sister is born of the Light Side. Nihilus… is born of the Void. The absence of both."

Son scrunched his brows in concern. "I have heard of it, but never truly encountered it. It is a troubling. Brief as it was, I felt it flowed as easily as the Light, yet as much power as the Dark. This Nihilus is a great foe."

"You don't know the half of it." Anakin looked down on Varus in concern. "And he has spent his life devoted to fighting it."

Son briefly glanced on the young man. A moment of respect lingered in his silent gaze.

…

"The man is still an idiot." Son smirked.

"Remember, Valkorian is greater still." Koj spoke up. "Nihilus is great and powerful because his very nature is against nature. But Valkorian taught him, and is a creation even greater than you."

Son pinched his lips tightly together, insulted, but neither could refute the statement logically. Valkorian was Plageus' greatest creation, born of death, the Dark Side, and started with the power of Marco Ragnos and part of Plageus right from the beginning. A thousand years of growing in strength… even Son felt small in comparison to what the Firstborn could be.

Didn't mean he didn't want to argue. "I'll just kick his ass and show Father who is his greatest." Son swept out the room with his hurt pride. They watched him leave before Anakin stooped down, lifted Ahsoka, and placed her on the bed.

"You really think it was a good idea to provoke him?" Anakin asked.

"Provoke or not, it is important to keep focus on what we must accomplish in our life time." Koj replied.

Anakin nodded in agreement. There was much to be done. Preparations needed to be made, and immediately. He sat back in his chair and looked at his two students again.

Dark Side. Light Side. And they found a way to make it work.

But then… they were both outcasts in their own minds, in their own ways. They were both abnormal to begin with. Anakin could accept his former students being together and see it work now, but he wouldn't consider it to be a sign that the majority of Dark and Light could work together. The outcasts, the thinkers, the innovators, could make it work. But the stereotypical Jedi and Sith were as opposite and hateful of each other as anything else Anakin could imagine.

Anakin expressed his thoughts to Koj.

Koj replied, "It is little more than racism. Show both sides how similar and different they are, how they both bleed, how they both cry, how they both laugh, how they both have values, and you will bridge gaps no one has in a thousand years."

The Jedi nodded, and chuckled. "I see why Varus likes you. He has always needed guidance in one form or another, and his choice in family reflects that."

They fell into silence a time, before Anakin's composure darkened heavily. "And Brother has to do that to my son… repeatedly."

Koj flinched in empathy. "May I suggest it be done quickly and with him unconscious."

"Definitely." Anakin agreed. He rose and straightened out his robes. "May I trouble you with watching over them in my absence?"

"Not at all. If anything, request a servant find Cahjinawl and inform her the demon has been removed."

"Will do." Anakin left.

* * *

The hours to follow were filled with screaming and pain. Cahjinawl was very much new to the Force, but even she felt the waves of pain being emitted from downstairs. She stumbled herself sleepily down, her teddy tucked under one arm, and recalled that she had been disturbed about something related to Uncle Varus. She couldn't remember. She stumbled towards it to find Luke Skywalker's room with Padme crying her eyes out and the father barely holding it together. Luke was shaking on the bed and curled in a ball. The creepy bald vampire-man in the dress looked exhausted. She heard someone say, "That was like trying to do surgery with a rusty spoon."

The creepy, bald vampire-dress man left, barely giving her a glance, and Cahj wasn't even noticed by the rest. Leia noticed her and Cahjinawl waved to her friend. Leia ran to her, she had been crying. "What happened?" Cahjinawl asked.

"Uncle Son," What kind of a name is that? "did something to Luke. He says Luke is better but will need time to recover."

"Is he better?" Cahjinawl wondered. She knew Luke had a demon, but if this Uncle Son person could fix it, then great.

Leia shook her head, then changed her mind. "Well," she sniffed. "They say the connection to Nihilus is gone… but Luke still feels… hollow to me."

Cahjinawl opened her mouth to respond and give her friend some sort of comfort, but then Padme for her and Leia rushed off after smiling apologetically and bidding her good night.

Cahjinawl watched them leave. Once they were out of sight she rolled her eyes and breathed deeply, "Another demon I gotta fix… Come on teddy."

She entered Luke's room. Luke laid under the covers shaking curled up in a tight ball. His eyes were on the moon. He did not make a sound. He did not cry. He did not complain. He did not groan. He was clearly in pain, but he showed no sign or expression to reveal his thoughts.

Cahj wasn't sure how this inverted-planet could have a moon and sun in transition, but it did. As well as stars. The moon disappeared in the day to be replaced by the sun. Perhaps the moon was the 'suns' core with the light dimmed? She couldn't say.

She climbed into the bed and started to go to sleep. Be it a testament to the bewilderment he was experiencing that this act brought out the first words he had uttered of his own whim, without being directly prompted, since he had been there. "What are you doing?"

"Sleeping. Shut up, I'm tired."

"But why are you sleeping in my bed?" Luke asked. "Mommy says girls shouldn't be in bed with boys, since we have more than two beds around."

"Yeah, well. Daddy says for me to be with Uncle when he has a demon, and right now you do."

"I don't have a demon. I was…" Luke tried to grasp for the right word, but being a child the word for 'possession' surpassed him. "made to do things. Nihilus was in me."

"Nihilus is a demon to Uncle Varus."

Luke did not have an argument for that. He could offer no counter. Realizing he couldn't make her leave, he felt… uncomfortable, so he kept his distance from her. However she was having none of that and scooted closer until she was at his back, prompting him to move. They kept up the stalemate until Luke inevitably reached the end and nearly fell.

Now he was getting aggravated. "Why are you bothering me?"

"Oh? Am I bothering you? Here," she reached around him and plopped her teddy on his lap. "This is teddy."

Luke eyed the bear and sighed. He repeated, "Why are you bothering me?"

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"Why?"

"Because you are!" Luke raised his voice ever so slightly.

"See, that's rude. You shouldn't let me bother you. You think I like hearing I'm a bother?" She complained.

Luke blinked. He couldn't wrap his head around the statement. He tossed the teddy bear back at her, only for it to land on the floor. "Shut up and go away. Take your thing with you."

"And now you have gone and insulted teddy!" She whined. She poked his back. "Apologize to teddy."

He growled and sat up. He glared down at her and grit his teeth angrily. "Why are you bothering me?! Does it make you feel good to make fun of my pain!? I just went through 'surgery with a rusty spoon'! It hurt a lot, almost as much as what I went through with your demon!"

Cahjinawl was silent. He huffed and slammed himself back into the bed and turned away again.

"I know what it's like…" She whispered. He showed nothing. "Pain. Death. I am a Ghorfa… it is our history and in our blood. I watched our people and families be slaughtered to invaders. I watched us be enslaved, and I was one of the few considered not good enough for death or service." She scoffed. "What good is a child at manual labor… I-I have a demon of the mind. They are in my head… telling me to… die."

Normally, if Luke was his prior self, he would have said he was sorry. That he was sorry for saying what he did, that he sympathized, that he felt sorry for her. Just a lot of things to say sorry about; however this was not the same Luke from before. Luke didn't know who he was anymore. He may have been able to say his name was Luke, but before that would have entailed an energetic, curious, humble, mama-boy. Now… he couldn't say.

"They are in my head, too." he admitted. "But they do not tell me what to do… they take it away. I don't hear my own thoughts anymore. I don't hear Leia anymore. I hear nothing. I feel nothing."

"Wrong." Cahjinawl chuckled.

His curiosity touched, he turned over to face her and asked, "How so?"

"Papa says emotions are just our body's expression of thought. If you didn't feel anything or think anything, then how come you got angry with me?" She smiled in victory.

Luke stared, once again bewildered by her train of thought, but finally understanding. He felt a smirk tug at his lips and huffed in amusement. He turned back over and didn't say another word. The last several days had not been… pleasant… to him, as he had to endure much probing and poking and watch his family mourn him as though he had died. He hadn't felt anything the entire time, but then… at least he thought he didn't. Perhaps he truly hadn't, as his connection to Nihilus had been more open at the time, but now… Now there was perhaps a little hope he could allow for himself.

His thoughts were interrupted by Cahjinawl's snoring. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

* * *

Meanwhile Visas had not gone to rest as the others did. She still had a mission. As soon as she was sure Varus had established a proper connection with Ahsoka, she stepped through the portal.

Just as Varus had freed her of her birthright, she would do the same. Even if it meant enslaving herself to it in the process.

Visas returned to Forge. As she flew over the land towards the Fleet Mother, her senses scanned the land around her. The Star Forge had created a sizable droid army and a small fleet. Fighter drones filled the skies and droids walked across the land like ants. She could sense Force-users among them, Miraluka, leading them, towards the capital.

The Miraluka were marching to retake the capital.

She set the shuttle to autopilot, and called the Fleet Mother. She arranged a space in the hanger, as well as a message to be sent straight to the Admiral: To hold the army and assemble a team of seekers in Ashley's room. Visas docked in the Fleet Mother hanger and made her way to the ship's barge. She was there first. The guards let her with little more than a nod, as she had frequented the cell often.

She closed the door. The room was dark. A detail unimportant to her as a Miraluka, but only showed the kind of place it was, as most of the ship was automatically lit when one of the few non-Miraluka entered. The room was empty of all items, as it would be a danger. Rather, the room was padded. Its single occupant was restrained in a vest with her arms wrapped around herself, and a series of chains kept her from gnawing at herself, and another set kept her near the wall.

"Hello, Sis." Visas greeted the prisoner.

The other snarled and tried to lunge at her, but the chains kept her back inches from Visas' face. Visas didn't flinch and showed nothing. If she had eyes, she would not have blinked as she gazed into the insane face of her sister.

"Ironic that I should be the stable one here." Visas mused. "Or perhaps, I have lived my life with what you have only just gone through. Now you know a portion of what I am… Is it further ironic that what I see on the outside of you is a reflection of what is inside me?" She chuckled darkly. "That I am but a cage to a monster you do not know how to hide."

Visas turned aside and leaned against the wall. "I am the only one who think you are still in there. The rest are willing to cut you off. Even the little alien you adore like a little sister of your own is scared of you after you attacked her. Varus sympathizes, and he believes there is hope, but he has his doubts. I alone know for a fact that there is. Because I have gone through exactly what you are. I have been in the darkness… raped in body, mind, and soul. I have had my emotions toyed with and tossed aside at the whim of a psychopath. I know it is little consolation, Sis, but when this is all over, the awkwardness you have felt in my presence will be gone. I know you reached for me, and I have taken your efforts in turn, but there has never been true understanding. How could you? You have not seen the monster inside you eating away at your every joy, twisting your joy into agony, the bodies that pile you."

Visas stopped momentarily. She sensed the Admiral coming, and there were a small squad of Seekers on the way as well. Even if the Admiral hadn't called them, she had. And she had authority over them.

Visas thrust out her hand and pinned Ash to the wall with the Force. She walked up to her little sister, and hugged her. Restrained as she was in so many ways, Ash could not attack her. "But now, you will understand."

Visas stood at attention as the Admiral entered along with the Seekers.

He was angry. It was evident in the way he briskly entered, the way he was tense and restrained around her, and in his twitching expression. He undoubtedly had every intention to lock her up and throw away the key. Did he have the law on his side to do it? Yes. But the law was made with the intent to protect the people. When the law fails, you must go with something far simpler. That which is good, and helping each other. The law is not meant to do that. The law is meant to restrain that which is evil, not to encourage that which is good.

In this way, Visas knew she had all the cards. "Before you do whatever it is you want to do, whether kill me or what. Before you go and raise our own city to the ground, I have some news for you."

"I'm listening." The Admiral said coldly.

Visas smiled. "You want a Keeper? Done. Varus has made a connection with his 'alien girl' and is now a proper Keeper." She put up a finger the moment he opened his mouth. His eyes were wide in shock and outrage. "No. You want a solution? You got one. You want the Keeper gone? You will find the solution is here."

"What are you talking about?" He demanded.

"When Varus made the stable connection with his lover, I made a connection as well."

"You took up your role as Chosen?" He asked.

"No. I made the beginning of the Network all over again." Visas lowered her finger. "Varus is no longer important to you, and if offered, will no longer need any place in your politics outside of being a celebrity to an ancient bloodline and respected family. Varus no longer plays a part in this beyond living and…" She felt a bit guilty. "Perhaps having a difficult time being emotionally stable for a while."

Becoming a Keeper was not easy. Experiencing your own emotions was bad enough. Experiencing the emotions of multiple people simultaneously? He would need to rely on his friends a lot for the coming years, especially Ahsoka. Visas did not want to be in their shoes.

Unfortunately she had to be in an even worse position. She walked up to the Admiral and looked him in the face. "You want the Network back? It goes through me. I am your only connection to the Keeper there is. In return all debt Varus has with us, is null."

He snarled. "You think you can blackmail me?"

"I just trash-talked a demi-god an hour ago. Try me."

* * *

Ahsoka was used to a lot of different ways of being woken up. Explosions in war, alarm clocks, a rough and urgent hand on her shoulder, being gentle nudged by a nurse, the tweeting of birds, the roar of a waterfall, the walking of people passing by, the gentle transition from sleep to wakefulness under a bright sunny day, but she had to admit… she had never woken up quite like this.

"SOCKS!" Varus yelled.

Ahsoka blinked awake. A feeling of great realization came to her just as much as confusion. What great revelation had she made? She was sleeping. She was confused as to why Varus had yelled it, just as much as what she was feeling.

A feeling of joy entered her. Again… why?

The joy turned to confusion as well. Now she was confused why she was confused on top of being confused by him and… Ah crap. Is this what Visas had hinted at? Ahsoka looked over at Varus by her. His face was an open transition from joy to confusion.

 _'What the hell? Why am I so confused all of a sudden?'_ Varus thought.

Shit. The bond was stronger than she expected.

His eyes widened in shock and he looked at her. "What? What are you doing in my head?"

"We made a bond again, remember? Only much stronger." Ahsoka struggled not to think. She literally could not even hear herself think. Varus's mind was a maelstrom of thoughts and feelings in a pattern that was jumping all over the place.

"Oh, yeah." He deflated a bit. She felt he was unsure how to feel about it. He didn't like bonds. Maybe- _'Too many things in my head as it is!'_

Varus grabbed his head and groaned. He said outload, "Stop thinking… please."

As if she could just stop thinking! What was she? A robot? She thought indignantly.

 _'What the hell is her problem!?'_

"What do you mean what is my problem?" She demanded heatedly. The response she got back was not what she expected. He was surprised, put on the defensive, and came to the same realization as she did. They needed to find a way to keep sending to each other EVERY little thought and feeling. There was no filter right now at all. As a matter of fact, Ahsoka could feel he found her hot when she was a little ticked off.

 _'Ignore that. We got a bigger problem here… unless you want-.'_

Not right now. They really had a problem.

 _'Gre-'_

Ahsoka put her hands up, and she felt Varus come to a halt. She closed her eyes and meditated for a few seconds, just long enough to calm down. She crawled across the bed, the same as before, and put her hands on his shoulders. "Right now, no thinking."

 _'Right, no thinking. No thinking about the elephant in the room. No thinking about the pink elephant. The elephant with the fluffy ears. The fluffy ears can't be pink, that would be weird. No thinking about the pink elephant with the weird fluffy non-pink ears.'_

"Varus." Ahsoka said patiently.

His eyes widened slightly. "Yeah, news flash. This will be hard." There had to be a way to do this. Thankfully, Varus was managing to keep his emotions in check, even if his thoughts were a scrambled mess. Funny enough, it was Varus' scrambled thoughts that landed on a solution. His emotional burst of revelation hit her and it took some control to keep from being confused in the process. Last thing they needed was an endless loop of emotion bouncing back and forth. "I have an idea."

"State it, don't think it. I can't understand most of what is in your head." Ahsoka said.

Varus was a bit hurt, as though it made him out to be dumb. Ahsoka flinched apologetically. "Sorry... And I think I know why it is generally considered bad to not hear every thought of your lover. People need some secrets, at least enough to work through their thoughts without being judged and decide on what to do or say properly."

 _'This was your idea, you know.'_

She raised an eyebrow. Did he really want to get into who's fault this is when he was dying and Visas came to her with the only solution? Would he rather be-

"You just said something about not responding to each other's every thought." Varus interrupted her thought. Ahsoka felt a bit shamed suddenly. She had judged his thoughts, when that was all it was: thought.

"Okay, solution." Varus offered. "Rather than deciding to not think anything, think something very specifically? I'll count in my head."

 _'1. 2. 3. 5. 4. 8. Taco. 6. Snorkeling. 7. 10. 9. SOCKS!'_

He knew how to count, but she felt his thoughts were jumping around, and it was just distracting.

"That's dumb. Sorry, but it kind of is." Ahsoka sighed. She pinched her nose. She was already getting a headache, and she knew for a fact he was getting one. His was wincing in the sunlight through the window. "I think it best we just ignore everything inside our heads and only go with what is said verbally. Including our own thoughts, except ones we form clearly enough for it to not be anything but intentional."

"Isn't that exactly what people do without a bond?"

"Yes, but-" Ahsoka wasn't sure how to say it, but they would need to take baby steps in this.

"Agreed." He flinched. "Sorry, reacted to your thought. But I understand. Perhaps… a lot of meditation."

"Right." She agreed. "So… Ways to relax or focus our thoughts properly."

"I find nothing better at that than training against an army of PROXY droids, or a good duel."

"That we can do." She agreed. She wondered briefly how her lesson under Daughter would change now that she had a bond perhaps strong enough to let her go deeper into it. She felt Varus's curiosity peak at her thoughts. She did her best not to think, but it was so hard! She just to let her mouth run. "I found Daughter's pool idea relaxing, and Son's sauna was to die for. A shower is relaxing too."

Before she could react, Varus lunged her, grabbed her by the hips, and picked her up on his shoulder. She squealed in laughter and surprise. "Shower it is! Then food and training!" He decided. "We can do those other things later! No time for thinking! Let's go!"

* * *

"So…" Skywalker cleared his throat. He pointed to the first pair. Cahjinawl was unrepentant and leaned back, and Luke was indifferent. "You were sleeping together?"

"Yeah, so?" Cahj wondered. Luke just shrugged.

Skywalker heard the reason, and he had trouble making heads or tails of it. Her logic was odd. Though he got the idea she was trying to help, and it seemed to. Luke was not near as emotional as he was, or as Anakin hoped he was, but it seemed he at least had a breakthrough of some kind. He showed and felt at least something now. Mostly around Cahj.

"And…" He pointed to the second pair. Unlike the first pair, which was largely emotionless and uncaring, the second pair was twitchy as could be and showed every emotion possible on their face in the span of seconds. It was literally as though their every thought and emotion was in a never ending game of pinball. "You two can hear each other's every thought and emotion?"

Varus and Ahsoka both nodded, then suddenly Ahsoka snapped her face to Varus with an indignant look, and he was briefly bashful. Then Ahsoka blushed from her neck to her forehead. As a man, himself, Anakin figured Varus thought something in the 'typical male' category. From how tired they were walking in, and how famished, he wouldn't be surprised if it was a fresh memory. Then she was confused, and looked at him like he was insane. "What do you mean 'Ah-sock-a?' Is that where the sock thing came from?!"

"Yep." Varus smiled proudly.

Anakin pointed to Leia. "Now what did you do?"

Leia crossed her little arms. "What makes you think I did something?! I was just sleeping!"

"You can't just tell me you didn't do nothing last night. I'm batting hundred right now."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Leia asked, completely perplexed. She looked to the others, and Cahj shrugged.

Leia started to sweat. Anakin kept a firm stare on her, and finally she bowed her head. "I may have left a pale of pink paint over Son's door…" Varus burst out in laughter and gave her a high five.

Anakin turned around and looked desperately at his wife. "Are you sure we don't have more than two kids?!"

"Pretty sure." She tried not to laugh. Tried to. It failed.

"Thanks for the help." He whispered. She only laughed harder. He sighed and put his head in his hands.

Koj entered in. Everyone looked up at his approach, and Ahsoka mysteriously elbowed Varus in the chest, to which he only smiled. Koj eyed the exchange, but didn't say anything in regards to the oddity of it. "We have received a transmission from the Miraluka. The situation has changed. It seems the Network is being revived. There is still war and bloodshed, but at least now it seems something has happened which is allowing recovery. It will take time."

The relief was clear in Varus. He looked like a great weight lifted off his shoulders. "Anything else?"

Koj shrugged. "I hung up, but the Admiral of Ribs wishes to speak with you."

Varus chuckled. "Admiral of Ribs. Good one."

Koj raised an eyebrow and asked in all seriousness, "Isn't that what you call him?"

"Well, yes… but… Okay, you know what. Your OWN joke is lost on you, and that is just sad." Varus rose to leave. Ahsoka did the same to follow. Something that struck Anakin as out of place.

"Ahsoka?" He asked, curious.

Ahsoka looked perplexed suddenly, as did Varus. "Oh, woops. I just… naturally followed." Judging from how she was incredibly confused and unsure suddenly, Anakin figured the bond was much stronger than he thought, if his urgency to leave either dragged her with it or was mutually shared so naturally.

Something for them to look into later. "It's fine. But I don't think the two of you are the most… stable right now." Anakin looked to his wife. "Want to give them a hand? This sounds like it is up your alley."

Padme put her finger on her chin in thought. "A chance to talk shop? Babysit a couple hormonal grownups? Sure." She rose to join them.

"We are not hormonal." Ahsoka pouted.

Padme laughed mockingly. "The two of you are the definition of hormonal right now. I haven't seen your emotions jump so sporadically since I met you." She hugged Ahsoka briefly. "Relax, I'm just tagging along to do everything and babysit along the way. And we can talk."

"Like what?" Ahsoka wondered.

"Well, girly things, and make him endure hearing your thoughts in the process."

Varus groaned loudly.

Anakin watched them leave. That was not a mess he wanted to be involved in. He couldn't imagine having two people's thoughts melded so closely together. He already had a connection of some kind with Padme, but that was one born of just knowing each other. Not from directly having your thoughts and emotions transmitted.

"Those two will require a great deal of self-control and training." Koj said.

"That they will." Anakin agreed. He turned his attention to the children. "However, something you may wish to know is-"

"They slept together." Koj stated simply.

Anakin blinked, twice, then looked from the Ghorfa, to the child, back to the adult. "You knew?"

Koj nodded. "I felt it necessary to allow such a moment of child-like compassion. Both of them have something to gain from mutual understanding, and sharing, of how far down a child's mental state can be, and taking comfort in it."

"Well, damn. What can I possibly say against that without sounding like a complete and utter ass." Anakin glared at him. "They're people… of the opposite sex!"

"So?" Both Luke and Cahj asked. Cahj went further in groaning with a throw-back of her head. "Why do people keep telling me that!?"

"You will understand when you are older."

"They tell me that too!"

Anakin gave a glance to Koj that basically said, 'She's your brat. You deal with her.' Or at least he hoped that was what his expression was giving off. Whether it was, or if Koj already was on the same wavelength, Koj concluded it was time to have a fatherly talk with her. She was old enough.

* * *

I sit at the lounge table with my hands clasped together in front of my lips. I stare down at a piece of paper. At the same time Socks gazes at me in worry, and Cyborg-Hugger glances at me out of concern.

The paper is a motion being passed by the still-recovering Miraluka council, and we had just spent an hour at this table where I stay quiet, Socks stays quiet, and Cyborg-Hugger talks shop with the Admiral of Ribs. (I think that is an even better name than what I made up.)

As it turns out, Visas had taken control of the situation and blackmailed the Miraluka into restoring the Keeper bloodline through the Seekers. So far as it is explained to me, the way it is supposed to be done is that I, personally, go out and create the foundation of the Empathic Network with each of my Seekers, and they, in turn, pass it on for me. It leaves me at the center of it all. What Visas did was do it herself, making herself the center. I am still the anchor, and I feel it.

It feels weird. I can hear their heartbeats, I can feel their emotions, but it is distant. It is like the time when I was at the hotel on Coruscant, I could look out my window and see people playing in the pool. I could hear their laughter, but it was distant and only really noticeable if I focused on it. It feels like that to me. The worrying part is that it is growing. More and more people are getting in the proverbial pool.

I'm worried the number of people attached to me, even at a distance, will be overwhelming.

 _'You will be fine.'_ I hear Ahsoka think. _'I feel it too.'_

The paper in front of me is in relation to what Visas' blackmail stirred up. She successfully forced the Admiral of Ribs into political submission, but the Council is still afraid of a second Leland event, and so are presenting a compromise. At the same time, they recognize my lack of political understanding.

The terms are that I will stay as prince, but my role will be more of a celebrity one than actual leadership. I have no say in politics. In addition, all children below the age of five, and all future children born to the Miraluka, will be added to the Network at level 1 rather than level 2. This will mean they will feel less of the effects of the Network, the burden on me and the future Keeper will lessen, and so far as they want, the Network itself can be lessened to the point that if it fails, it will not cause damage. People need to be able to handle themselves and be self-reliant on their emotional growth without an Empathic Network doing it for them.

In addition, the idea of modifying the Keeper role is here. Signing the contract will allow the Keeper role to be extended to create a 'lesser-Keeper', which will be a group of the highest-level Seekers. This will allow for the Network to not collapse in the case of my death, and the burden will be dramatically lessened.

"What of my clones?" I ask. I tap the backend of my pen on the paper.

"A short council session decided that they will be adopted by a number of parents that are willing to live in a small community where the children will all be within a single block of each other, and will be attending the same school at the same grade level in the next year when our schools reopen."

I nod. I don't know if that is a good thing for them or not.

Cyborg-Hugger asks, "Define the distance. They are very close to each other."

"You really have no say in this matter. They were left to the Miraluka to care for in Mrs. Marek's passing."

"No, but it will reassure him."

"Very well, the ten families that are taking them in will all live in the same tower. An entire five floors have been donated to them. They need only use an elevator."

"Sounds reasonable." Cyborg-Hugger consented. She looks to me. "That means they will stay together."

That makes me feel better. I whisper that I would like a moment, and she says, "Will you excuse us a moment?"

The Admiral nods and leaves. The door closes behind him. I close my eyes briefly as well, and through my Miraluka sight I cannot see past the walls and door. The room is sealed through the Force. Rather, I can see the walls and doors, but the amount of nodes is so thick, it is just as much a wall to my sight as a normal one.

"What do you think?" I ask her. I explain my thoughts and what I got from it.

Cyborg-Hugger passes the paper to herself and looks it over. She flips through the documents. "You have it oversimplified, but it is good. It keeps your position of importance and creates a number of guarantees for your people. What I see is them trying to one day remove the role of Keeper, and the Network entirely, but considering what they just went through, they will be wary to try it anytime soon. This is just a step in that direction. The biggest concern I have though, is the Star Forge."

"How so?"

"The agreement made before was that you would have ownership of the Star Forge as prize, and it would be passed down to your heirs. The term 'heir' is easy to claim as being either the next Keeper or a child of your own. Now with this contract allowing the creation of lesser-Keepers, possibly in the council's pocket, it will allow direct access to the Star Forge. Not to mention they have already used emergency powers to use the Star Forge in the creation of a small droid army already."

"I will not say it was wrong to do that." I argue. "It… it was truly an emergency."

"That it was, I am not denying it, but this will create a power struggle between you and them over the Star Forge, where before there was less flexibility and interpretation for error." She pushes the document back to me. "What I would do is have them add in that your ownership of the Star Forge will not be passed on to future Keepers, but to whoever you specify in your will. Which… you do need to make. I can help you with that when we have a free day. Also you will want to include the Ravager with the same condition but with a second ownership so they are separate. As well as your droid."

Oh right, HK. Haven't seen it in a few days. It is probably recharging its batteries on the Ravager.

I sigh and put my head in my hands. With all that is going on, I realize how serious this document will be to sign. The only reason I am not panicking is that I feel Ahsoka's calm assurance. She thinks this is a good thing. She thinks I am burdened in something I don't belong.

I agree.

You don't take a slave and make him a king. It simply doesn't work. You take a person raised in leadership and politics and make that guy the king. My thoughts are too simple to be a leader.

I know Ahsoka hears my thoughts as well, and while the whole thought-pinball back-and-forth thing is leaving me almost dizzy, one thing I can say for certain is that we agree it is a good thing. It just leaves the question of: what now? Because if I were to be honest with myself… If I were to be really, truly, honest with myself… I want nothing to do with the Miraluka.

I appreciate them getting me out of slavery. It makes me feel… not alone… to know my people are here and alive and kicking. It is scary being tied into a network of hearts and emotion, but rather than drowning in it, it just feels like I am inside a massive community where I only need to look and I can see… just people going about their daily lives. (Granted those daily lives right now are a mess of confusion, pain, and a lot of PTSD from what they have endured for the last while.)

But this is not where I belong. It is not where I see myself being. If I consider my future with my people, I see myself being either miserable or devoting my time to helping Koj and Squirt and the Ghorfa. Even in that version I see myself mostly wanting to limit my time with my own people. The only true ties I had were Visas, Ash, Leland, and my mother. I can say I respect the Admiral of Ribs about as much as he gets on my nerves, but I am sure both of us can live just fine without the other.

Where I see myself being, or rather wanting to be, is in the one place I've ever been happy. Well, two places. Either with Koj and Squirt in the simple life of miserable slavery. Or with Socks and Tree-Hugger-

 _'Stop calling me Socks!'_

I chuckle. The only other place I've been happy is with Socks and Tree-Hugger… Koj and Squirt are great, and they are my family, but… I want a life with Socks. I want to have the relationship with Tree-Hugger we once had until the betrayal (forgiveness or not) and we never really put time into restoring what was lost. Koj is my brother, but he never really laid out the foundation for who I would become as much as these guys.

I've never tried having a single day of my life where I can actually claim it to be normal, by normal people standards. I've never attended a theatre, I've never seen a concert, I haven't taken a vacation to fish or relax in the sun since I was five, I've never gone to a nice restaurant just to relax and enjoy good food in as long as I can remember, I've never gone on a simple normal date…

I feel Socks blushing at the idea. She is also happy. So much so it is wonder she isn't bouncing in her seat.

One thing I have to get used to is the sheer magnitude of emotion she has. I know Tree-Hugger told me once that girls have twice the emotional capacity as guys, but I didn't realize how true that was till now. It's almost overwhelming how much she feels at times.

I sigh and make my decision. I explain my new terms to the Admiral of Ribs, and while he is a bit hesitant, he agrees and says he will have an updated document for me to sign in an hour after his attendees write up the new clause.

I look to Cyborg-Hugger, hesitantly, I will admit, and ask, "Do you mind… If I… you know… come with you guys?"

"Hm?" She hums in curiosity. "To where?"

"Naboo."

Cyborg-Hugger smiles widely. "I would love it."

Socks jumps out of her chair to hug and plant a kiss on me. She is all giddy all of a sudden. Not that I am complaining.

"Let's just wait till after the funeral, alright?"

"Funeral?" I ask.

Cyborg-Hugger nods. "So far as I know, you and your people never properly mourned your mother, and with all that has happened, there will be a public holiday to set aside some time to mourn all that have been lost."

The realization that we never did mourn, not even for mother, hits me like a ton of bricks. Her body is still in the morgue just waiting for the proper send off.

 _'Don't feel guilty. There were other concerns.'_ I hear Ahsoka think. I squeeze her hand briefly.

"They do need it." I agree. "Admiral?"

"Hm."

"When is the ceremony? We are having it, right?"

He nods. "It will be in two days. I had already asked Mrs. Marr to pass on your invitation to you, but it seems you haven't received it yet."

"No, not that it matters. I'll attend." I sigh.

* * *

The ceremony was quiet. It was largely a blur, but I remember standing out in the open field with a bonfire in the middle of a large gathering. My family and friends were there. The Ghorfa attended. Darth Plageus attended out of respect for what had happened 'right next door', so to speak, even if he had no relationship with the Miraluka themselves. Most of the bodies lost could not be accounted for so pieces of paper with their names inscribed by hand (an effort that took several thousands of people to do in a day) would account for the dead. The only ones whose bodies would be used in the bonfire were mother and Leland.

Tree-Hugger, Koj, and the Admiral all insisted I carry her body, but I couldn't move. I felt numb again. Not the vindictive, destructive numb of before, but the kind where I knew if I let myself feel something, or move, or think, it would leave me a miserable mess. As nice as it was to have my family and friends there, they could only do so much. Socks didn't leave my side, and in a way she kept me from going entirely within my shell. The collective mourning of my people in the back of my mind only made it worse.

Seeing as how I was going through too much, the Admiral himself carried mother's body. It surprised me to see him crying as he did so. He placed her body quietly in the center of where the bonfire would be, then what was left of Leland was placed next to her, and then a hovercraft dumped a load of millions of papers on. Names were inscribed on every line. Then the whole mess was set on fire and a number of Miraluka poured their Force energy into it, shaped it, and made a giant pillar of fire.

The Pillar of Fire reminded me of the last time I had seen my people as a child. Of the last time I had seen my father. Of the time Nihilus had taken me. Of the beginning of the next chapter of my life that would prove to be an utter hell. Now it will be the beginning of a new one.

The sight was the last thing I remember before falling to my knees and weeping.

I wake up to find myself in bed on the Ravager, with a teddy in my arms, and me in Sock's arms.

Meh, Socks won't work. If I wanted to come up with a nickname for Ahsoka, I should have done it when I first met her. It's too late. Oh wait… I called her 'slut' when we first met. That might work… but she would hate that. Mother Hen doesn't work anymore now that we sleep together on occasion. She wouldn't want me to refer to her as Mother in bed… 'Shoka? Maybe. Soka? Sokka? Hmm… Could work. Nothing else really does.

I love her too much for her to be anything less than Ahsoka.


	10. Sequel Teaser

Here is a teaser for In the Path of Prophecy:

"Surrender." Mandalore demanded. He raised his cannon arm and pointed it at the Sith Emperor. All around the room the soldiers did the same. Rifles were aimed, grenades were poised, and fingers were set. Every available weapon was poised and hot. "You are surrounded, and outnumbered."

Valkorian opened his eyes. They were simple eyes, but there was a casualness in which he gazed against his adversaries so unwaveringly that it made Anakin wonder. Truly, the Sith was intelligent. He knew what he was looking at. To him, it was like looking at insects playing in the dirt.

Valkorian's gaze trailed over each one before him before locking on Anakin. It was on him that Valkorian had the slightest hint of recognition.

"So… you are the Chosen One." The firstborn of Plagues murmured. "The fourth child of Plagues. Tell me, how is my old friend? Does he still hold himself back by sentiment? No… I would hardly say he is, as he saught to kill me by creating you. Well, then I guess he is just a hypocrite."

"Don't you dare!" Son barked.

Valkorian's eyes snapped onto Son with an icy glare, and for a being who was all but a demi-god to be gazed at as inferior, it only showed how much greater Son recognized Valkorian if Son stopped his tongue and gulped. "You must be the second one, a middle child with no place seeking to create his own."

"You know nothing of us." Daughter defended.

"Oh, but I do." Valkorian smirked, his gaze sliding smoothly towards her. "You are clearly the third one, created for no other purpose than to restrain him on a leash. To speak for him. I know what that is like. Plagues tried to do the same for me… in a life I once held. You know what he figured out? He learned that I will not be restrained by any boundary set by mere mortals."

"As much as I hate to break up such a touching family reunion, you are under arrest!" Mandalore barked. "Ignore me a second time, and I will force you into submission personally!"

"Oh, I didn't ignore you…" He allowed the soldier a roll of the eyes. "I just didn't care."

Valkorian stood and descended the steps. With each step, he aged. Five years, ten years, fifteen. His clothes shifted. His voice cracked with puberty and just as quickly deepened as he reached adult-hood. "You bring at me starships, mere metal tubes of air designed to submarine men through spacial waters that can be destroyed as easily as one can crush a can. You bring at me weapons of hard plastics and crystal with man-made technology… and man-made flaws. You bring at me lives willing to sacrifice at the altar by beating their heads into the steel wall on nothing more than your word, for the purpose no greater than recognition and security in a creation spiraling out of control."

Valkorian stood before Mandalore a grown man in his forties, yet as well built as a man in prime. His clothes were practically of royalty and pure white. His hair aged white a bit early for his physical appearance, and his light-shaven beard, goatee, and mustache made him look very well groomed. He had the presence of a king, yet, at the same time, in his eyes were madness.

Despite how many weapons were on the Sith Emperor, it felt as though Valkorian was the one in control. He was the one in their target sights, yet Anakin felt they were the ones at the end of the gun. He walked, he descended the stairs with such confidence, betting that they wouldn't fire, and they didn't. The Mandalorians had hesitated. Even standing no more than ten feet away from Mandalore, with his arm-cannon aimed at his chest, Valkorian did not hesitate or show weakness. Instead it was a dare for them to do it, and they hadn't. In one move, Anakin felt they were the ones on the defensive.

This wasn't just the power of a Sith. This was the power of a king.

Valkorian spoke with a voice that echoed a thousand times with a thousand voices from his mouth. Anakin heard woman, children, and men of all ages come from his mouth with one voice and speak as one. "You say I am surrounded? I am surrounded by fear! You say I am outnumbered?" Valkorian chuckled. "Can the living ever outnumber the dead?"


End file.
